Entry tags:

[a]isu, akame, au, meet death, multi-chaptered

Meet Death - Chapter 6
Title: Meet Death
Author: Aisu
Rating: R (for now)
Pairing: Akame
Genre: AU, comedy, romance
Disclaimer: I don't own Akame.
Summary: While Kazuya fights a losing battle for his life, a strange figure appears just as his heart beats for what should have been the last time. Introducing himself as Death, Kazuya is bound to the figure that brought him back from the dead.

[ 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 ]


CHAPTER 6

"ACHOO~!"

"Disgusting..."

"Shut up."

It was past noon, and Kazuya was still in bed. His little stroll in the rain had cost him his health for a day, possibly more. Jin stood examining the other's condition, leaning against the wall near the foot of Kazuya's bed. He held a book in hand, flipping through the pages.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jin had asked several times, the boy insisting it was nothing but a mere cold and that he could still work and attend classes.

"I hate stuffy noses," the boy pouted as he kicked his sheets away from him, an action quite childlike. Sitting upright on the edge of his bed, Kazuya proceeded to a standing position without much success. The second he had risen on his own, everything flashed white, a feeling of dizziness overcoming him.

"Ah!" Jin instantly darted forward to aid the weary boy, discarding the book on the floor. Circling an arm around the lean waist to help the other regain his composure, Jin knew Kazuya wouldn't be able to leave the apartment today. "You know you can't go to work," he reasoned as he sat Kazuya back down.

Kazuya knew his body was weak. He would easily get ill if he spent too much time in damp weather, so he always had to take precautions. Having been in good health for a while however, he made the error of assuming his body's immune system had possibly strengthened, and therefore didn't take heed of the forecasted rain.

"...Fine..." the boy gave up, pulling his sheets back up under his chin. "Is that a smirk on your face? Even when I'm sick?!" Kazuya's mouth gaped.

Jin shook his head. "No, it's not what you think."

Kazuya's hands still clutched at the edge of his blanket near his chin, eyes narrowed as he suspiciously stared at the other.

He's so cute, Jin thought as he eyed the younger man. Kazuya wasn't a child; even when he did act like a spazz, he never acted this juvenile. Jin found he rather liked this side of Kazuya, this side of him that appeared somewhat... innocent. For some reason however, Jin instantly recalled the porn he had first discovered when the word 'innocent' popped into his head, and he quickly dismissed the idea that Kazuya could be described with the word.

"Pervert..." the man muttered under his breath, not realizing he had said it aloud.

"Excuse me?" Kazuya replied, not quite sure of what he had just heard.

Jin shook his head again. "Nothing," he replied as he bent over to place the book on a desk.

The lack of words being exchanged created an awkward silence between the two until Kazuya couldn't take it anymore. Usually Jin would've been spurting some kind of stupid nonsense to make the atmosphere more comfortable, but he just sat on the edge of Kazuya's bed glaring down at him with that dark penetrating stare of his.

"Are you just going to sit there all day?"

"Hmm? Of course not," Jin replied. "Guide to the River Styx at your service~" he said, lifting his index and middle fingers to motion a lame salute which Kazuya pretended not to see. "What would you like me to do? You're sick, right? I'm going to watch over you." Jin replied as he bent over the boy, placing one hand on the bed to steady himself as he raised the other to Kazuya's heated forehead. "Fever...?" Jin said, unsure of himself. "But sneezing isn't a symptom of a fever. You must have a cold as well." Placing his hand atop the boy's head, Jin ruffled Kazuya's hair. "Poor kid," he sighed.

Kazuya moved his arm over his face when he felt another sneeze coming on. His sickness was starting to set in, and he was glad the other hadn't let him leave earlier.

"Guide to the River Styx..." the boy suddenly repeated the title Jin had previously used.

Death started giving his series of slow nods again. He's going to start asking again, Jin thought. He's going to keep asking... and one day, I won't be able to say no anymore. I'll have to tell him the truth. I'll have to tell him that this whole 'familiarizing me with your world' is just a roadbump along the way, that compared to what he's really in for, it's all just some game.

"Jin... if you're always with me, how're you doing your... you know. Soul guiding stuff," Kazuya asked.

"Hmm... well, I'm not the only one who can do that," the man explained. "There're Reapers... They assist me."

"Reapers? If they can guide souls then what makes you different from them?"

"Heh..." A half-smile appeared on Jin’s sullen face. "Don't want to talk about it..."

A long sigh left the boy's lips. He should have known. It's so frustrating though, not being able to know anything. However, this time, it wasn't that the man couldn't tell, but that he didn't want to.

"I have to call Pi..."

"Because of work? I'll do it for you," Jin offered.

"If you insist."

"Where's your cell phone?"

Kazuya pointed at a pair of jeans that adorned the boy's bottom half the day before.

"Ah~"

Retrieving the object, Jin flipped open the phone only to be confused by the numerous buttons. "On second thought, maybe you should. I'll... go get a towel for your head," he suggested, handing the cell to Kazuya.

The boy chuckled to himself. "Death and technology..."

x♠x
After listening to the lecture that should have been given by his mother, Kazuya ended his conversation with Pi. "I thought he'd never stop ranting," Kazuya said to himself as he sat up in bed once again. He had to use the bathroom, so it couldn't be helped.

Making his way through the hall, Kazuya paused in his movements. Was that Jin's voice he heard conversing with a female?

"Oh, really?" Jin asked.

"Mmhmm. So you can tell him he doesn’t have to worry about anything for this month, 'kay?" the girl finished.

"Okay, thanks."

"Bye bye~"

The door was carefully shut, followed by Jin's soft footsteps rounding the corner.

"Kazuya? What're you doing out of bed? Go back~" Jin ordered, his hands finding their way to the boy's shoulders to guide him back to his room.

"Wait wait wait, who was at my door?" the boy demanded to know, digging his heels into the floor.

"Your landlord."

"Eh? What does she want?"

"She wanted to tell you that your obaachan paid this month's rent."

"WHAT?!" Kazuya shouted. He didn’t need her paying his rent; she was retired and shouldn’t have to worry about supporting her grandson.

"Oi~ Don't start screaming. Calm down; go back to your room and rest," Jin tried again.

"NO! Why is she still doing that?!" Kazuya complained. "I'm supposed to be taking care of myself, she doesn't need to do that," the boy sighed. "I'm gonna pay her back."

Jin slowly nodded. "That's fine, but you need to rest now, so go back."

"Hold on," Kazuya said as he made way for his bathroom. "Wait a minute... do you know how to-"

"You don't really intend on going there, do you?"

"So is that a-"

"YES..." Jin interrupted. "Unless you feel compelled to-"

"NO," the boy replied before slamming the bathroom door shut in Jin's face.

Jin smirked, though the conversation suddenly made him cringe. "...Wait... I... I touched him... there..."

x♠x
"Don't just sit there, do something!" Kazuya whined.

"For someone who's ill, you're awfully loud."

"I can't help it. I can't do anything, I'm bored."

"Ah~"

Kazuya groaned as he stared at the ceiling. Jin wasn't up to anything today. He had moved a chair to the foot of the boy's bed and sat there, just watching. Kazuya wondered what it was that made the man alternate between his playful and mature self.

Both were lost in their own thoughts, though Kazuya was the only one who gave a faint jump at the sound of his cell, Jin grinning at the boy's response.

"Don't give yourself a heartattack, Kazu-chan~" the man sung. "You'll ruin my vacation," he joked before something he had never given thought to crossed his mind. "Heartattack... that reminds me..." the man couldn't finish his train of thought however, as Kazuya had opted to answer the phone and ignore the witty response.

"No~" Jin said before coming around to the side of Kazuya's bed, preventing him from picking up the still-ringing cell phone. "You stay in the bed, remember?"

For the first time, Kazuya was reconsidering the placement of his bed. Maybe sticking it in the far corner of the room wasn't such a good idea, especially since it was hard to reach when a mess started to accumulate.

"Then you answer the phone!"

"Hnn... No. If it's important then they'll leave a message. You're a sick, sick boy who needs his rest," Jin grinned.

Jin didn't know how to use a cell, but he did know that last night when he had been trying to bug Kazuya, all the boy did was sit holding his phone to his ear claiming that he had 'important' messages that he needed to listen to. In truth, it was just Pi ranting about how children were immature, because 'Pink isn’t just for girls'.

"...Kazuya?" Jin called, wanting to voice his previous thought.

"What?" the boy replied in his dull tone of voice.

"You would have died of heart failure, yet you're still so young. Is something wrong with you?" Jin asked as he turned to sit on the edge of the bed, his back to Kazuya.

"You're Death, don't you know what happened?" the boy curtly replied as he sat up, moving to the corner of his bed to lean his back against the wall.

Now that Kazuya thought about it, he never bothered to think about the accident. His mind was fully occupied with this 'Death' thing once he left the hospital. He couldn't even remember the whole situation. All he knew was what the witnesses told his family, who in turn told him.

"I just know the bottom line; they try to keep it simple without all the messy details." Death explained. "For example, when people jump from a building. So much adrenaline builds up that they usually die from a heartattack before they hit the ground. For cause of death, it says heartattack. I know nothing of them jumping from a building... until I go get their soul, at least."

"Ah..." Kazuya slowly nodded as he tried to recall the day of the incident.

x♠x
It was just like any other day. He didn't have to work any shifts at Kazen, and there weren't any classes he needed to attend at university. Just another boring day spent outdoors wandering around the streets looking for something to entertain himself for the evening.

However, life does have its fill of surprises. Every now and then something unexpected is bound to appear in everyone's daily routine. Something unpredictable; something that tests your mind and makes you re-think how precious life really is, and to describe the way you've been living it with the phrase 'taking it for granted' was beyond an understatement concerning most.

Looking down at the pavement as he walked, Kazuya glanced upwards when he heard the laughter of a little boy he assumed to be walking back from a nearby park, a chocolate-colored labby a few paces in front of him. Upon closer inspection, Kazuya saw that the boy held a greenish-yellow tennis ball in his hand as he picked up his pace in attempt to catch up with the dog. The animal lacked a restraint of any kind.

It happened within seconds, a situation clearly spelling out disaster. Kazuya easily predicted the outcome, but couldn't react soon enough to warn the child. His voice was caught in his throat.

Tripping over himself, the young boy's body met with the ground as the tennis ball flew from his small hands. It rolled into the paved street, the ignorant dog flying after it only to freeze in its tracks at the sight of an oncoming vehicle, staring at the driver of the speeding car.

It was all too conventional. Of course the young boy would run after his beloved dog. Yes, there were other people around, but there was only one that was close enough to even do anything about it. And what the hell was he doing?

"DON’T!"

A futile shout; it didn't help anything. The boy still ran for his dog, and Kazuya dashed out in an attempt to prevent the disaster. His feet flew beneath him, meeting the ground for brief moments only to reach out before him again; his heart raced as he ran toward something he wasn't sure he wanted.

There was no way the car could stop in time. As the driver slammed the brakes, the dog darted out from the street. The boy still remained.

Someone would die; it was inevitable. Someone would die, and Kazuya knew it. Why the hell was the car moving so damn fast? He didn't have the luxery of time; he couldn't think about the consequences. If he died, what kind of trauma would his family have to endure? Who would Pi complain and joke around with during his time at Kazen? He didn't know, and at the time, he didn't care. There was room to think of one thing, and one thing only.

As he dove in front of the speeding red blur, Kazuya caught the child in his embrace, his body helplessly crashing against the asphalt road.

x♠x
"Kazuya?" Jin's voice was gentle. The boy wore a blank expression; Jin knew he was reliving the incident.

"Hmm?" the boy wearily replied.

"You're shaking..." the man continued in concern. Kazuya's face looked hot and flushed, yet he was shivering.

Kazuya's eyes moved down to his arm. Jin was right; he was indeed shaking.

"Here." Feeling the boy's forehead once more, Jin furrowed his brows. "You're cold..."

According to the book Jin had been reading, fevers cause chills when the brain raises the body’s 'thermostat'. In response to this, the body starts to shiver in order to raise the temperature since bacteria and other viruses aren't capable of living at high temperatures.

"Are your fevers always this bad?" Jin spoke in a tender voice. "Lie down," he suggested, helping the boy to lower back down under the covers, though the latter resisted the man's efforts. "Kazuya-"

"I ran in front of a car," the boy interjected. He didn't talk about the incident to anyone in his family since the day it happened, but for some reason he felt compelled to spill his guts now. He wanted to tell the truth. Yes, it was partly shameful, which was why he hadn’t told anyone. He felt like he could tell this man though... As though Death, if anyone, would be able to understand.

"You... what? Why?" Was it attempted suicide? Jin had ruled out this possibility earlier, but maybe that was a mistake. Maybe Kazuya really did have something he kept secret from everyone else.

"There was a boy... he was chasing after his dog and a car was coming..." Kazuya began, staring at the empty space in front of him.

Jin remained quiet and listened intently. Something inside him made his arm circle around the boy's shoulders. He didn't even realize he had done it. It felt so natural, like that's what he should be doing in a situation like this.

"It was going so fast, but... I don't know." Kazuya's head leaned up against the man's chest. "I just went in front of it to try and save the boy, and then I can't remember anything. I woke up in the hospital and saw you." Kazuya paused, he had the sudden urge to glance up into the dark orbs he had seen when he first awoke in the hospital bed, but refrained from doing so.

Jin lowered his gaze, his lips resting atop the boy's head, and Kazuya didn't mind it. In fact, he liked being held by the man. It felt comforting, to feel Jin’s body raise and fall beneath his own, his warm breath mingling with his hair.

"They said the car stopped. It stopped," Kazuya repeated, as if it were unthinkable. "They said it just barely nudged me, but that's impossible. It was going too fast to have stopped in time."

Kazuya didn’t know how it happened; he hadn't the faintest clue- but Jin knew.

"I was told I had a heart attack as a result of an adrenaline rush... as for the heart failure... that was due to hypertension; I have high blood pressure."

So that's how it happened, Jin thought. The man still refrained from voicing any words, not wanting a single sound to leave him until Kazuya had completely finished his story. It would seem that he did not need words, however. Jin's embrace was enough to voice any comfort the boy needed. One of the man's hands had found its way to Kazuya's head, gently tussling the soft locks of brown hair, the other reaching across the boy's body to hang loosely over his hip.

Kazuya looked like the lost figure he had always made Death out to be. He was a hopeless child. A young boy who didn't have to worry about anything he would say, because it's okay for kids to admit to things and speak the truth even if it's something that should not be said. They'll be forgiven. Then again, maybe more people than Kazuya knew could see things from his point of view, but either way, the truth ate away at him and he felt ashamed of himself. He had to tell someone though; he had to confess.

"I didn't want to save him," Kazuya spoke. "I didn't want to go after him. I wish I wasn't there."

Seconds passed before another word was uttered, their breaths preventing silence from dominating the room.

"I never want to do that again. It's not that I regret it; I'm glad I made the choice that I did. But... I don't know. I guess once is enough? I couldn't go through something like that again now that I've experienced it. I didn't know what to expect when I jumped out there. I just saw the situation and I knew what would happen to that boy, and my body just reacted without letting my mind catch up. I knew I didn't want to, but I went anyways. It's like I didn't even have control over my own body."

Jin felt Kazuya's body become tense, and the only thing he thought to do was hold the boy closer.

"I was so scared..." Kazuya breathed.

"Kazuya..."

Wasn't that natural? Especially if it was someone you didn't know? Wasn't it normal to want to live and save yourself? Kazuya didn't see things that way. To him, society wouldn't see things that way either. They would only think of him as being selfish, that the young boy didn't even get to experience half the life he had.

"You didn't make it any better, you know," Kazuya's mood seemed to make a swift turn. Having to see a complete stranger walk up to your bedside and announce that he's Death wasn't exactly the best way to wake up after finding yourself in a hospital.

"Eh?"

"...Nothing. Nevermind," Kazuya dismissed what he knew would end up as another one of their stupid bickerings. Besides, he was in no condition to be arguing. He could feel his body start to heat up, small beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He hated being sick.

"Nnnhh..."

"Kazuya?"

"Hnn?" the boy answered.

Jin took the hand that had been stroking the boy's hair and moved it to wipe away the sweaty bangs that were plastered to his forehead.

"You're sweating now... I'll go get you something to drink. You have to drink a lot of water so you don't get dehydrated~" Jin said before laying the boy back down and leaving for the kitchen sink.

Kazuya hadn't even known the man for a week, but every day that he spent with Jin, he could feel the other becoming more human and less like a supernatural being.

"He's terrified," Jin stated to himself, taking a cup in hand. "He's scared of me," he spoke sarcastically while turning the faucet.

"I never want to do that again."

Jin's hand became soaked, the cup overflowing with water as he zoned out, a single throught pinned to the back of his head.

"I'm going to be like this forever, aren't I?"

x♠x
"KAZUYA~! ... Who're you?"

"Uhhmm... I'm Jin," the man hesitated before answering. "Who are you?"

The bell had sounded throughout the apartment, but as Jin entered the living room he found that the visitor had already invited herself in.

"You don't know me?" the woman asked. "Where's my Kazuya~?"

"Ah, he's in bed, sleeping..."

When Jin went to deliver the water, the boy was resting with his eyes closed. It had been a couple hours since then, Jin just sitting watch over Kazuya the full time. There was almost no way the young man could still be as sound asleep as before though, seeing as how the woman had a loud personality.

"Hnn... Obaachan?" Kazuya's weak form appeared around the corner of the hall.

"KAZUYA~! How's my boy?" the woman asked.

"Kazuya! You're not supposed to leave the bed..." Jin pouted, feeling as though all his efforts were going to waste.

"I'm fine," Kazuya ignored the man.

"Why, no you're not," his obaachan observed. "This man's right, get your butt back to bed," she ordered.

"Obaachan..." the boy moaned at the way he was spoken to.

"So how do you two know each other anyway? I've never seen you before," she gestured at Jin while directing Kazuya to his room, much like Jin had done earlier.

"University," Kazuya lied with ease.

"Oh, is he smart?" Kazuya smirked, "Well, actually-"

"Yes, I am-" Jin began when he saw the boy's expression.

"Stupid," Kazuya finished.

"Excuse me?" Jin eyed the sick boy.

"What's one plus one?"

"Uhh..." Dammit, what's he talking about, Jin thought, a look of utter confusion gracing his face.

Kazuya's obaachan laughed. "I like you, you're funny," she commented. "Why didn't you answer your phone earlier?" she redirected her attention to Kazuya.

"Well-"

"Doesn't matter," she interrupted. "I found out you were sick, so I brought you something to eat."

She must've gone to Kazen for a visit, Kazuya thought. Pi would've told her I was out.

"Normally I'd stay with you of course, but your ojiisan is being cranky lately, so I should get back before he destroys the house. Besides, it looks like your friend here is taking good care of you," she smiled.

Kazuya nodded from where he stood at the side of his bed.

"Well then, take care," she said, afterwards placing a quick kiss on the boy's cheek. "Eat that food!" she shouted before shutting the door.

Jin stood in silence as he looked at Kazuya.

"That's my-"

"Obaachan, yeah, I know."

Kazuya grinned before turning to crawl into his bed. Jin reached for the plastic bag containing the food, only to have his eyes widen as his hand passed through the object.

That was right; he was in his Spirit Form. He had changed while Kazuya was napping so he wouldn't tire himself, yet...

"Who’re you?"

A/N (Aisu): Uhh... sorry for the wait? :X & If any of you ever find holes in the plot or something... please mention it? I tend to overlook a lot of things. @_@ You probably won't know much til the end though. XD

Anyway, thanks to those who've been reading, commenting, etc. Feedback = <3 :D