The book of life and death

CHAPTER 4

THE BOOK OF LIFE AND DEATH

There's a certain balance to life. One is born, another one dies, and so forth. Some may say that illness, accidents, and murder are unfair and cruel ways to go, but that is simply not the case. There is a reason why all that has to happen.

Yuki places her hand on the golden doorknob. It had been years since the last time she saw it. It felt like it was burning her hand. When she finally built up the courage, she turned it and the door unlocked, revealing a dark room with seven chairs. She felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders as she took the first step into the room. It was just like she remembered it, except that her chair was more scuffed than she remembered it being. She took another step in and Akira and Daisuke followed her behind. She hesitated a bit before sitting down on the chair, and when she did, she felt even more disgusted by her actions. Akira sat on her chair, and so did Daisuke. "How do you feel Yuki?" Akira asked calmly. "I feel like throwing up." Yuki replied. Daisuke left out a laugh. "What's so funny snow-boy" Yuki asked jokingly. "Nothing is funny. Nothing at all." He responded, holding back his laughter. He looked like he was about to explode. "Come on now! Yuki is obviously just nervous to be back!" Akira told him. They all started laughing. None of them would admit it, but this reminded them of the old times. Being together felt so natural to them, that they couldn't hold back their joy anymore. The laughter didn't last for long after they heard the door open. They all directed their eyes towards the huge golden and mahogany door. Through it walked a tall man with uneven black hair. The trio suddenly looked very serious. The man looked at Yuki for what felt like an eternity before walking to the chair that had the name "Haru". "Long time no see Yuki." The man, named Haru, said nonchalantly. "Good to see you too." Yuki answered him. Haru might look scary, but in reality, he is quite the softie. He's quite fond of birds, good food and classical music. Haru was among the first new gods, alongside Yuki. Haru and Yuki are actually a par. The God of Death and The God of Life. Haru is in charge of beginning life, whereas Yuki is in charge of ending it. "When did you decide to come back?" Haru asked. "I was coerced to by these two." Yuki said, referring to Akira and Daisuke. "Good job you two." Haru said, smirking. "We have a new job. It's actually in Tokyo. You know that area quite well don't you?" He asked. Yuki gave him a look that could kill a man in return for this snarky remark. "What's the job?" Akira asked Haru. "I'll tell you when it's time." He replied. "Now, Yuki, why do you want to die? Do you realize the consequences that would have?" Haru mentioned. Yuki looked shocked. How on earth did he know? Yuki shook it off as just being unlucky and hesitantly replied with "Of course I know. We'll figure out how to go about it.". Haru gave her a very judging stare. Yuki felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand up. "Guys, guys, let's all just be friends here!" Akira said while she stood up, the same way cats puff up their fur to stand their ground. "Don't come crying to me when you realize how stupid your idea is when it fails..." Haru said under his breath. He started leaning on his hand that was propped on the armrest of the chair. He took a notepad from his pocket and after a while of looking through it, he put it down and sighed. "I'm not looking towards this job at all." He said, sounding very bored. This sparked Daisuke's interest. Haru took note of this and gave him the notepad. Daisuke's eyes lit up. "Yuki, Akira, we're going to a ball." He said, clearly excited. A small smile formed on Haru's face.

The group of misfits arrived at the ball. Haru was there first, like always. He was shortly followed by Yuki and after they had been waiting for a while, Akira and Daisuke showed up. Everyone looked celestial. Yuki was wearing a white gown that fell to her mid-thighs. It had pearl details on the bodice in the shape of a heart, and lace on the skirt. Akira was wearing a long, red qipao-style dress with a slit on the side. Haru and Daisuke were both wearing tailored suits and expensive dress shoes. "Don't you look dapper." Yuki complimented Daisuke. Even after all these years, she still had feelings for him, and the feelings were mutual. "I am actually going to go and throw up now" Haru remarked as he started walking inside the ball venue. It was a big hall, with crystal chandeliers and big windows. Even the entrance was stunning. The long and wide stairs leading to the double doors, guarded by two men in uniforms. The building looked like it was built in the Victorian era. It had two floors connected by a glass staircase, and you could oversee the entire floor from the second-floor balcony. The group walked on to the main floor and were immediately offered drinks, to which they didn't repudiate. As the evening went on, Akira and Yuki grew curious about the details of the job. The reason why they were there became very soon apparent.

"So, how was living down here for you? Did you meet anyone interesting?" Akira asked Yuki, who was looking around for any clues on what the job might entail. Yuki finally snapped out of the trance when Akira pinched her arm. "Ouch! Why did you do that?" Yuki questioned, looking at the damage Akira was able to do to her arm. "You weren't answering me! I was-" Akira was rudely interrupted by screams coming from the second floor. Yuki bolted up the glass stairs soon to be followed by Akira, Daisuke, and Haru. She almost tripped when she reached the top but regained her balance by grabbing onto the rail of the balcony. "Stop! Nobody move, I have a bomb!" echoed through the building. Everyone turned to look at each other before running towards the middle of the floor through the crowd of people. When they reached the front of the crowd, they saw a man who looked to be around 30-years old. He was wearing a suit like the rest of the male quests but he obviously didn't belong- he looked way too unkempt. The man had what looked like a bomb attached to his chest, and a remote on his left hand. "What do you see?" Daisuke asked Akira, referring to the outcome of this rather tight situation. "I'm not sure. It's still blurry, like the future for the people in here isn't quite yet written." She replied. Free will. What an insane concept created by humans, for humans. Let's be realistic, the world would be an absolute shit show if people were allowed to make their own decisions. No, really, just think about it. Everything seems so chaotic, yet somehow organized. It's almost like something, or someone is choosing for you. Like it's already written, like a book. I'm guessing that you're picking on what I'm saying and I don't have to spell it out for you, right? Now, where were we?

Akira turned to look at Haru, who seemed way too calm for someone who was just presented with a bomb. "What's the plan?" She asked him but didn't get an answer. Haru took a step away from the crowd, towards the man. He held his hands up and smiled at him. "What are you doing!? Get back in with the rest or I'll- I'll blow us all up!" The man threatened. He was obviously nervous about something. "I'm not going to harm you. I want to help." Haru told the man as he kept walking towards him. The man seemed shocked about this but didn't stop Haru. When he reached the man, Haru lowered his arms. "Why are you doing this?" He asked. "Because everyone here deserves to die. They took my son from me." The man responded, almost crying. Haru placed his hand on the man's shoulder and turned to look at Yuki. She knew what she had to do. This had always been their signal. Even though she was not happy about it, she started walking towards the man who seemed even more nervous than before. "Don't be scared, she's a friend. She just wants to help you the same way I do." Haru leaned and whispered to the man's ear. Yuki reached Haru and the man and Haru moved out of the way. Yuki stood in front of the man and asked him a single question. "Are you afraid of death?". The man was caught by surprise and before he even knew what was happening, Yuki's hand grabbed the back of his neck and she pulled him in for a kiss. He felt everything going dark. Everything felt so light. He let go of the remote, which Haru managed to catch before hitting the ground. And just like that, the man was dead. Yuki looked at his lifeless body. Once a businessman and a father, now just another number on her count. Haru put his hand on Yuki's shoulder. "It's okay, he's in a better place now." He whispered to her. The job was done. The threat was taken care of. The only problem now was the witnesses. Obviously, the public shouldn't know about the existence of people with the ability to see the future or kill someone by just touch. This is when Daisuke comes into play. He ran to the middle of the crowd, opened his arms like a showman, and shouted "Thank you for participating in this evening's entertainment!" from the top of his lungs. It didn't take long for the crowd to start clapping and talking about the "show". As the people left the floor, everyone let out a huge sigh of relief. "That was insane! I haven't felt this alive in a long time!" Daisuke proclaimed as he spun around, arms still open. What a day it had been.

With the job done, the group returned to the room. When they opened the door they were met with a certain shock. A knife flew by Yuki's head and landed on the wall, which caused a chain reaction of jumping and regaining balance. "You sly snake! You thought you could return without me finding out, huh?" said a familiar voice. Still shocked from avoiding a knife and possibly awfully painful injury, Yuki turned to face the chairs. There was in fact an armed crazy person sitting on one of the chairs. This crazy person happened to be named Ayumi and extremely good with weaponry. Ayumi stood up from the chair and took Yuki into a headlock. "You really are a pain in everyone's ass aren't you Ki-chan?" She said mockingly while rubbing Yuki's head like an older sibling would their socially awkward younger sibling at school to embarrass them. "You haven't changed at all, Ayumi." Yuki mentioned when she was finally let out of the grasp of this insane woman. "Where were you? We could've used you earlier." Haru asked Ayumi, sounding rather annoyed. "I was running errands, you know how it is." She replied lifting her hands in an attempt to seem clueless. This tomboy was Watanabe Ayumi, The God of War and Weaponry. She was also known to be quite the thief in her inner circle. Daisuke and Akira ignore their antics and return to their seats, but before they get the chance to sit down, Ayumi moves onto them. "So, what've you been up to, huh? Saving the world?" Ayumi asks jokingly. "Like always." Daisuke responds, dripping with sarcasm. They finally get to sit down when Ayumi gives up on teasing them. With them all sitting down, Haru starts up a rather interesting conversation. "So, Ayumi, did you find the book?" he asks from Ayumi, now visibly way more serious than she was before. "No. I think It might not be in Japan anymore." she replied. Everyone seemed to tense up faster than a group of students who forgot they had an exam. "What do you mean you think it's not in Japan?" Yuki asks Ayumi, you could clearly hear the fear in her voice. "What does it sound like I mean you dimwit? You're not the one who should be shocked, It was your job to look after it." Ayumi exclaimed. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. "Well, I assumed you had the brainpower to pick a temporary protector while I was gone. Excuse me for thinking you had at least two brain cells to rub together..." Yuki said under her breath. Ayumi got up and threw another knife at Yuki, who barely dodged it this time. "YOU LOST THE BOOK!?" yelled Daisuke, who had been quiet up until this point. "You do realize how important this is, right? That book can change everything." he continued, sounding enraged. "Now, now, let's all just calm down." Proposed Akira. "NO!" they all replied in unison, which made Haru smirk. "You know, the book might be more important now than it has ever been. It might actually be able to grant Yuki's wish of dying." He said, leaning on his hand again, clearly smiling. At this point, Ayumi and Yuki were at each other's necks, and this did not help cool down the situation. "You want to die!?" Ayumi yelled at Yuki. "You really are insane. You're mad at me for losing a god-damn book when you want to destroy an entire world with your selfishness? I can't believe you sometimes." she continued. "Do you really think I'm dumb enough to just drop dead? I've been here longer than any of you, if someone knows what will happen without death, it's me." Yuki defended herself. Ayumi let go of her dress, took a step back, and let out a sigh. "Fine, try to kill yourself all you want, but just know that I will do everything in my power to stop you." She said. Everyone stopped talking. The storm had calmed down for now. Ayumi returned to her chair. "So, Haru, where are the others?" she asked, winded out from the confrontation. "No clue. Probably out enjoying life if I had to guess." Haru answered, still smiling and reading through his notepad. If Haru and Yuki are a pair, Haru and Ayumi are mortal enemies. Haru is calm and collected, he never does anything without a plan, and going through that plan a 100 over in his head. Ayumi on the other hand is the human embodiment of pure chaos and disorganization. This dynamic can be quite interesting at times, especially to the others. The party was cut short when a familiar voice echoed through the room. "Find the book or chaos will ensue." It said. All of them were way too familiar with this voice, it was the one they all heard when they died after all. This book that they lost, is quite important. In this book is written the fate of every living being. Their past, their future, and their present. In the wrong hands, this book, called fittingly The book of life and death, can alter the world we know into an unrecognizable mess, just a shell of what we used to know. They have to find this book before someone changes its text, even the voice agrees on this.