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

Meet Death - Chapter 7
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 | 06 ]


CHAPTER 7

"Hnn..." Kazuya yawned, slightly shifting in his bed and pulling the covers up over his head. "Stupid... sun..." he muttered as he turned, causing the towel carefully positioned on his forehead to fall onto the mattress.

Sitting in a chair placed at the head of Kazuya's bed, Jin leaned forward on his knees in his usual position, a small grin on his face as he watched the other. The day before, Kazuya fell asleep right after he filled his stomach with his obaachan's cooking. Since then, Jin had been keeping a close eye on the boy, gently pressing a hand against his forehead to periodically check on his fever. He found a particular joy in just watching the boy sleep.

The first few hours of silence were full of frustration, however. Jin had a little dilemma of his own, and he hadn't the slightest clue as to how to go about it the ‘proper' way, or if a ‘proper' way even existed. Kazuya's obaachan was an important figure in the young man's life; what kind of hardship would he have to endure if she was gone? As Death, Jin clearly couldn't say anything. Deaths were not to be discussed. It was private information and must remain unknown to those who still belonged to the world of the living.

So, while he gazed upon the unconscious boy, Jin came to a conclusion; one that seemed rather obvious. He would say nothing and act as if everything were normal, regardless of how it ate away at him, regardless of how guilty he felt whenever Kazuya was in his view.

"Jin... JIN!"

Eyes widening and panic suddenly overtaking him at the call of his name, Jin jumped up from his seat and quickly leaned over the edge of the bed. "What?" he asked.

"Uh... nothing," the boy answered, though when he was shouting his head had immediately turned to face the other, as a young child full of fear would do.

Jin's brows furrowed before he asked, "Bad dream?"

Kazuya nodded as he moved to a sitting position, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.

"So cute~" Jin smirked, raising a hand that ruffled the boy's hair before stopping upon his forehead. "You're still sick."

"Of course I'm still sick," Kazuya pushed the man's hand away, who in turn just sat on the bed and cocked his head to the side to stare at the boy. "...What?" Kazuya asked.

"But you're better than yesterday," Jin pointed out.

Normally, at this point, Jin would've probably mentioned something about how it was all thanks to him. If he hadn't been there nursing the boy, he would still be as sick as the previous day. But instead, he took a different route.

"I'm glad~" he said, loosely wrapping his arms around the waist of the young man. "Yesterday you looked so helpless while you were lying in bed. You were really hot, too. It's no fun when you're sick~ Hurry up and get better."

Kazuya was busy staring down at the arm circling around the front of his waist. He was ready to push it away the second it fell against him, but as he listened to the words that followed, the thought left him. At least, for a short moment they did.

"Yeah, yeah..." he said in an understanding tone, though he still felt compelled to take a hold of the man's wrist and fling it away from him, Jin smirking all the while as the boy performed the action.

"Ne, Kazuya," Jin called as he leaned back on his arms.

Oh no, the boy thought. Those two words, that when put together, would always result in another one of ‘those' questions from the man. So as expected, he delayed in his response. It would seem that he didn't reply soon enough, though.

"Ka-zu-chaaan~" Jin tried again, this time blowing air into one of the boy's ears.

"Ah!" Kazuya's hand flew to his ear as he turned on the man. "What?" he quickly asked, dreading the moment the word left his mouth.

"Remember when I asked you about that couple?"

Kazuya recalled the moment with a roll of his eyes. "Yeah, the people sucking on each other's face."

"Yeah..." Jin affirmed, realizing how stupid he must have sounded when he asked that question. "You said they were kissing."

"Yep."

"Yesterday your obaachan kissed you, right?" Jin continued.

"...Yes..." Kazuya hesitantly replied. He wondered where Jin was going with the whole thing, though he didn't have to wait long.

"Why do people kiss, Kazuya?"

What do you mean why do people kiss, the boy thought. He was startled by the question. Certainly it wasn't as simple as ‘because they love each other', was it? Wasn't there something more behind a kiss? Kazuya thought there was. Hidden meanings, things that couldn't be voiced with mere words, they were all said within a kiss. He didn't want to make it sound so complicated, though.

"People kiss because it's a way of showing their affection towards another," the young man replied.

"Ah~" Jin nodded. "So that couple I saw, and the kiss your obaachan gave you yesterday, those were acts of affection?"

"Yeah," Kazuya said.

"So then, is there a difference between kissing on the mouth and kissing on the cheek?"

"Well, yeah," the boy replied.

"What is it?" Jin continued bombarding the other with his endless questions. The simple kiss Kazuya had received from his obaachan was nothing compared to the other.

The man was quite thorough in his questioning, Kazuya gave him that much. Apparently Jin wasn't going to let him get away with an easy explanation this time.

"There are different levels of affection...?" the boy answered in voice not too assuring.

Jin continued staring expectantly at the other. He only resulted in asking the boy a question when he couldn't understand a particular concept behind people's actions. Usually he'd be able to piece things together, but other times they needed further explaining. If Kazuya happened to become flustered because of the question, it was just an added bonus as far as he was concerned.

"She's my obaachan!" Kazuya shouted, partly in frustration at how the conversation was proceeding.

"Okay?" Jin quirked a brow.

"That'd be gross if she kissed me like that!"

"Why? I still don't understand what the difference is. So there are different levels of affection? Which one is more affectionate?"

"Uh... I don't know... if you ask me, that couple back in that alley were havin' a fling. If they were serious though, then yeah. That's more affectionate."

This of course led to Jin asking how having a fling would change the meaning of a kiss, and if kissing on the mouth was more affectionate, why did his obaachan just kiss him on the cheek? Being blunt seemed to work best when explaining things to the other, and since he wanted to get things over with, Kazuya decided to make use of that method.

According to the young man, flings generally took place when people were trying to fill voids, or they were just feeling exceptionally horny, which mean that everything they did with the other was done in an act of selfishness.

Then, tackling the whole, "You do NOT make-out with your family members!" issue, which Kazuya didn't have the best time explaining since the idea of him and his obaachan like that disgusted him.

"Kissing like that is more for..." Kazuya paused, thinking that the next word would trigger another set of questions. Of course, Jin would just make him spit it out anyways, so he just said it. "Lovers..."

Upon voicing the word, Jin's head fell upon the boy's lap, his eyes closed though he was still awake. "Ahh..." was all he said in response as Kazuya stared down at him.

"Jin?" the boy called as he studied the other who lay warming up his lap.

There was no reply, and Kazuya wasn't sure if Jin was asleep or not. The man had been up all night, he must have been worn. Kazuya's mind didn't linger on the matter for much longer before switching gears, however.

Jin. He silently rested, Kazuya's head hanging above his, watching the man's calm face. The phrase ‘you look like death' was hardly accurate, the boy thought. He had such beautiful, seductive features. Death looked far from what people had made him out to be. And he looked damn good in that white tank top, showing off his strong arms that hung over the bedside.

Kazuya felt unusually attached to this man who only days before was a complete stranger, and in a way still was one. He had entered his life so abruptly, and since then was never too far from his side. Whenever Kazuya got a good look at the man, his mind would always start to wander astray as he thought of how attractive a figure he was. Then there was the whole thing with the anatomy book and wanting an actual human body to study... Was Kazuya seriously attracted to this man?

He didn't know. It never occurred to him that he could be gay. He wasn't sure what was happening as their days together progressed. What he did know was that whenever his eyes found Jin, he would become entranced, lost in thought. This man, a complete mystery, this man, caught in between two worlds, what was this feeling Kazuya had toward him?

His sleeping face reminded Kazuya of the time he sat in the chair, crying. He still didn't know why the man had done so. It was as if Jin and Death were two separate people, one lost within the other. Neither was complete, both were confused.

Overcome by an unknown force, the boy suddenly felt compelled to lay a hand on the other's shoulder. Slowly reaching out, he unconsciously uttered his question.

"Who are you?" he faintly whispered.

"I am Death."

The response left the man's barely-parted lips just as faint as the question, and Kazuya instantly withdrew his hand hearing the tone.

That was right... He was Death. He was the Guide of the Underworld.

A sullen smile forced its way onto the boy's face. Those three words... That simple reply had cleared up any misunderstandings Kazuya had been thinking of.

x♠x
As the days went on, Kazuya turned in his essay he had been assigned and worked his usual shifts at Kazen, while Jin continued to be a teasing roommate asking his usual questions. Something was amiss, however.

Whenever Kazuya would arrive, Jin appeared to be in deep thought, and he still refused let the boy know anything concerning why. He always felt so distant, his stare going through every object before him.

"You suck, Jin," the boy complained from the couch, a calculus book open on his lap.

Jin's mouth gaped. "Ehhh? What're you talking about?" he asked, finally coming out of his trance. "What's wrong Kazu-chan~?"

"You're not even listening to me," Kazuya pouted. He redirected his gaze to a math problem and scribbled it down into his notebook.

"Hnn? What?" Jin tried again. He stood up and walked behind the boy, resting his arms on the back of the couch looking over Kazuya's shoulder. "Need help with your math?"

"No," the boy rudely replied.

"Ah..."

Of course he didn't need help with his math. Kazuya was becoming fed up. He was growing tired of being left in the dark, not being able to know anything about the man he lived with, whereas Jin could ask him any question and he had to answer.

"...I'm sorry."

It was all the man could think to say, and it was the first time he had ever apologized to someone. This earned a slight response from the latter, the boy turned his head a bit to the left where Jin stood behind him, but still remained quiet.

Apologizing? Kazuya didn't remember teaching him that. He was almost positive he had never apologized to the man for anything either... not that there was anything he needed to apologize for. Granted apologizing was common sense, but that was something Death had proven himself to lack.

"Kazu-chan..." Jin mumbled, lowering himself so his head leaned against the side of Kazuya's. "...I'll... I want to tell you something..."

And he meant it. He wouldn't spill everything just yet, because he couldn't. Once that day came, though...

"I'm Death..."

"I already know that much, Jin," the boy spat, turning his head away. What, is he teasing me again Kazuya wondered in disbelief.

"No, let me finish," Jin said as he stood back up, staring at the back of the boy's head. "This role... my being Death..." he paused. "I'm not going to be Death forever."

Not going to be Death forever? What's that supposed to mean? Kazuya didn't know what Jin was trying to explain to him, but listened nevertheless.

"The one who takes on the role of Death is always changing. There were several others before me." Jin sat himself at the opposite side of the couch from Kazuya, the boy glancing at the other for a second using his peripheral vision. "I was always told I was different than the previous ones. I never did get fully consumed by this whole Death thing... I really, really couldn't believe it when it happened. Just like you. I wanted to believe that it was a dream, that my life wasn't over. I wasn't much older than you when it happened to me. I wasn't completely lost in that same emotionless role as the others, and they said it was because I wouldn't let go of life. Somehow, I managed to retain just a bit of what made me human. My stupid, witty, playful personality." Jin stole a glance at Kazuya to see how he took that last part, but found no change in the boy's expression. "The fact that you didn't have to explain certain things to me... that's probably because I somehow managed to remember them as well. Anyway... as Death, I can take on a Human Form. Death is allotted a limited period of time in which he... or she... is able to freely move between the world of the living, and the Underworld."

A limited period of time? So what's he trying to say? Kazuya tried to make sense out of the other's sudden ‘confession', if there was a reason he chose to tell him this specific thing, if there was some hidden message and he had to read between the lines. Was there something Jin couldn't tell him directly? Did he have to leave soon? It didn't make sense. What happened with the contract?

"Your soul has been bound to mine in exchange for a second chance at life. If you wish to accept this contract, then you shall go on living, but you will also have to answer to my beck and call for whatever purpose I may need you. Currently, that purpose would be helping to familiarize me with the world of the living. If you wish to decline this contract, or you choose to disobey my command, then your soul will be banished from this place and you will be no more."

Currently, his purpose was to familiarize the other with the world of the living. He had been doing that. Was there nothing more then? Was he just being led on to think there was something else?

Jin had told something of his own free will, though it was nothing the boy had asked about. Kazuya didn't even know there were other Deaths before Jin, so consequently he would've never asked about it. What about the several other questions he actually wanted an answer to?

"Why are you telling me this? Why don't you answer something I want to know? Like why did it have to be me of all people?" Kazuya had stood from the couch, now facing the other.

"You'll know... soon... just wait a bit longer, please?"

Wait. Ever since he met Jin all he had been doing was waiting. Waiting for an answer to his questions, waiting for the stupid contract to somehow be fulfilled, waiting for everything to go away so he could go on living as if he had never met Death.

"...Since you've already said that much then, what happened to the previous Death? Why does Death keep changing?"

I can't tell him, Jin thought. I can't tell him all of it yet... Kazuya, don't you remember? You're bound to me... I'm bound to you. The reason I'm here right now is because of you... What happens to me depends on you... What I can tell you right now, though...

"The time we spend here, the time we spend in your world, that determines what happens to us. Either way, I won't always be Death, but what happens here will determine the next in line."

And I don't want it to be you...

The two exchanged a long glance, Kazuya's face still emotionless.

Why is the time spent here so important? And why is he looking at me like that, Kazuya wondered. Those dark eyes of his that were as black as coal, those eyes that appeared so deep that if you were to gaze into them for longer than a second, you would lose yourself; how were they capable of conveying so much emotion?

Kazuya didn't like the sudden change of atmosphere. Since when did everything become so serious? Why couldn't they bicker like they usually did? Jin was always moody lately, not wanting to talk, and when he did the boy could tell it was forced.

Just then, the man spun around and walked towards the door. Kazuya just watched as he turned the doorknob, opening the door only to shut it behind him as he stepped outside.

"Jin...?"

x♠x
"Dammit..." Jin sat on the porch, his hands tussling his dark locks of hair. "What do they want? I don't want to go yet. I don't want to know what it is..."

There was a constant pain centered in his head, and it would only continue to grow worse.

"Dammit! Get out of my fucking head!" he shouted to himself.

The voices were getting louder, the cries more desperate, and when the shout of a young boy begging for his life echoed within Death's mind, he couldn't take it anymore.

Death roamed the world already plagued with a feeling of guilt, but having to bear the task of hearing every human's dying thoughts that occurred at every possible moment was worse than Hell itself.

He was being summoned, but he refused to go. Instead, he had been trying to ignore the voices. He had endured the endless cries this far, but soon he would reach his breaking point. He wouldn't be able to stay for much longer.

"JIN!" Kazuya's cry erupted from behind the man, the door swinging open. "Jin!" he called again.

"What? What is it?" Jin hurriedly asked.

The boy looked frantic, his face pale. There could only be one thing, Jin thought.

"My obaachan... she's in the hospital." The last words were scarcely a whisper.

"Kazuya..."

"Come with me," the boy requested, though it sounded more like a demand.

"I don't-"

"Come with me!" Kazuya repeated, voicing the request louder then the previous time. "Please..." He was begging.

Kazuya's eyes had become watery as he stood waiting for Jin to respond.

"Of course I'll go with you..." That's what Jin wanted to say, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words. He really couldn't go. How was he supposed to stand back and watch the boy break down as he spent his last moments with someone he viewed to be so precious? How could he bring himself to watch Kazuya in a crushed state of emotion? He was Death for God's sake, how could he be of any comfort in a situation like that?

"I can't go with you Kazuya."

A tear tailed down the boy's cheek. "Why not?"

Jin looked at the pitiful boy that stood before him, unable to reply. Being Death was a cruel punishment.

"Why can't you go Jin?" the boy repeated.

"Kazuya... don't go."

The man's words were unexpected. Don't go? Nonsense.

"What?" the young man replied, taken aback.

"Don't leave, stay here," Jin attempted to persuade the other, though he knew it was no use.

"What are you saying? I'm going to go, I have to go!" Kazuya stared at Jin in disbelief, a flash of anger in his eyes.

Shaking his head, Kazuya made his way past Jin, the man watching the back of the other until he disappeared from his sight.

"Kazuya, don't you know who I am?"
x♠x

The last time he walked the halls of this hospital, he was leaving the emergency room. He didn't think he would be back so soon. Doctors rushed through the building followed by their nurses; visitors roamed the halls checking up on their family or close friends.

He didn't realize he had reached the room so soon. Staring at the name posted outside the door, Kazuya hesitantly peered inside.

"What the hell are you doin'? Get your butt in here."

She spoke with the same determination, but her voice had weakened.

"Obaachan..." Kazuya quietly called as he entered the room. He couldn't get used to the sight of his obaachan in a hospital bed.

"Hurry it on up, I don't have all day."

"What happened?"

"What do you mean what happened? I'm old, I had a stroke," the woman said.

"Oh..." Kazuya sighed; he had expected the worst.

"Oh? That's all you have to say? Lighten up kid, don't look so depressed. Besides, I'm gonna die soon. Might as well get used to the notion."

"Obaachan!" Kazuya gasped at the bluntness of his grandmother.

"What? It's true. I'm not always going to be here for you. You need to go out and find yourself a pretty girl."

"..."

"What's that? I can't hear you."

"I didn't say anything, obaachan."

"Oh, that's good. For a minute there I thought I was going deaf,” the woman said with relief, closing her eyes for a short rest.

A long silenced passed as Kazuya watched his grandmother lying in the bed.

"Obaachan," Kazuya called, but didn't receive a response. "Obaachan? Obaachan!"

Extending his arm, Kazuya gently shook the shoulder of his grandmother. Nothing. The heart moniter began emitting a strange beeping pattern, and within seconds Kazuya was at the door of the room shouting for a doctor.

"Oh, you again," Kazuya heard his obaachan say in a soft voice before he whipped around after finally catching someone's attention.

The scene was all too familiar.

"That suit certainly does you good," the woman spoke again.

"Move," a doctor quickly made his way past Kazuya and rushed to the woman's side going through some basic routine trying to uncover the reason for her irregular heartbeat.

All the while, Kazuya stood at the doorway, his mouth slightly open, and his eyes glued to the fourth occupant of the room.

Clad in a casual black suit, the mysterious man approached the deathbed of his grandmother.

A/N (Aisu): I TRIED to update fast. @_@ Feh... oh well.

I GOT AN AWARD IN ENGLISH~ Odd since I've only been in my creative writing class for like four weeks ROFL XD Must've been that 14 page single spaced paper I wrote when the minimum was three pages double-spaced. XDD IT WAS A FIC HAHAHA, I TURNED IN A FIC. XD & I'll post it here soon~ :D SO LOOK OUT FOR IT! It's called, "Photographs We Never Took". But before I post that one I'll be posting "My Guardian Angel" since Photographs is based off of that. :D

So much writing to do. @_@

oh, btw, are there any questions in particular you guys are waiting to be answered in this fic? I wanna make sure I don't accidentally miss something. XDD