I've always enjoyed drawing. I even enjoyed making up my friends. But I never thought that my friends would turn out to be the real deal. And I never thought I would be involved in all this mumbo jumbo stuff with L, Kira, and this stuff about death...
"Ryoko!" My aunt, Chie (Chee-a) called. "In here!" I called back. I continued to scribble on the piece of paper as I heard Aunt Chie enter my room. "I'm heading out. Is there anything you want me to get for you after work?" She asked.
"You could bring me home a bottle of liquor." I joked. "Ha! No way!" She said, chuckling. I chuckled with her. "Hey, you can't blame a girl for trying." I said. Aunt Chie kissed my forehead before leaving.
Once she left, I took the glasses off my face and leaned back in my chair. "Hey, you never told us what your aunt does for a living." Ryuk mentioned. "She's a stripper and a spokesperson." I said, casually. "You were pretty blunt about that answer." Rem mentioned.
"Wait, so your aunt has two jobs?" Gook asked. "Yeah. By day, she's a spokesperson on TV, and by night, she's a stripper." I explained. "Sounds pretty interesting." Ryuk commented. "Yeah, she's trying her hardest to be a good parent. I mean, she's my only parent, since I didn't have a father." I said.
"I can't believe it's already been 13 years, and now look at you. All grown up." Rem said. I gave a slight chuckle before leaning back in my chair, stretching. I locked my fingers behind my head and began to hum as I stared at the ceiling.
"What are you thinking about?" Ryuk asked. "About you guys." I answered. All three of them gave me a confused look. I sighed before explaining myself. "How many of you guys did I make already?" I asked.
"Ten, if you include the ones you haven't named." Gook said. "I haven't named them because I don't know what to name them. I don't know why it was easy to name you guys." I said. All the unnamed Shinigami I've created are all over the house.
However, I'm the only one who can see them. I get a little nervous sometimes due to them being around the house because while Gook, Rem, and Ryuk follow me around outside the house, like for when I'm walking, for example, the unnamed Shinigami are in the house when my aunt is still in the house.
Even though my aunt can't see them, I still get a little nervous. "Ryoko, why are you so hung up on death?" Rem asked. I stared down at my work as I felt their eyes on me. "I don't know. I just... Ever since my Mom died, I just couldn't get death off my mind." I said.
"That's one of the reasons why you went to the Psychiatric Ward." Ryuk said with a chuckle. "It's not funny, Ryuk." Rem scolded him. I sighed as I thought about my time in the Psychiatric Ward. My life got pretty rough after my Mom died.
In my year of middle school, I began cutting my wrists and I got suspended for stabbing a kid in Home Ec. Then, I was sent to the Psychiatric Ward for strangling a guy. It was actually his own fault for insulting my dead mother.
He called her a whore, so I tackled him to the ground and began to choke him. I start a fresh senior year in the fall. Right now, it's summer, so I have all the free time in the world to do... whatever, really. "What are you drawing now?" Ryuk asked.
"Not what. Who." I said. Rem looked over my shoulder, looking at the drawing.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"What are you going to name this one?" She asked. "Calikarcha." I answered as I put the finishing touches on Calikarcha. "There," I held up the picture in front of me, admiring my work. "What do you think?" I asked the three Shinigami that were in the room with me.
"He looks good. You know, for a Shinigami." Ryuk commented. "Speak of the devil." Rem said. I turned around in my chair as Calikarcha stood in the middle of my room, in the flesh. He looked around until his eyes landed on Gook, Rem, Ryuk, and I.
"Where... am I?" Calikarcha asked. "Hi. Welcome. Allow me to introduce myself. My name's Ryoko Taizumi. And this is Ryuk, Rem, and Gook." I greeted. "Ryoko... You're the one that created me, right?" He asked.
"I am." I confirmed with a soft smile. "This... all feels new to me. What am I supposed to do?" Calikarcha asked. "Well... I guess you can do anything you want. I'm the only one who can see you and the other Shinigami are downstairs. Gook, why don't you show him around?" I suggested.
"Sure. Follow me, new guy." Gook said, leading Calikarcha out of the house. I turned back to my desk, doing some more drawing. "Don't tell me you're gonna make another Shinigami." Ryuk complained. "So what if I am?" I asked.
"Why do you like making up more of us, anyway?" He asked. "Because I don't have any human friends. Besides, I like you guys. You've been by my side my whole life, so I thank you for that. You've become like family to me. Actually, you guys are my family." I said with a smile.
"That's really sweet, Ryoko." Rem said, smiling back. I turned around and hugged the two of them at the same time. I noticed how Ryuk blushed when I hugged him. "I've never seen you blush before, Ryuk." I said.
"I'm not blushing." He denied. "Yes, you are." Rem said. "Sheesh, Rem. Way to have my back." Ryuk said, sarcastically. "And who said I had your back?" She asked, making me laugh."Hey, has anyone seen Gelus?" I asked.
Rem and Ryuk looked around, trying to find him. "You don't think he's hiding again, do you?" Rem asked. "One way to find out. Come on, help me find him." I said as I looked under the bed. When he wasn't under there, I checked the closet.
The moment I opened the doors...
"Gotcha!"
Gelus jumped towards me from my closet shelf, landing in my arms. "Oh. There you are, Gelus." I said as I held him. "Aw, man. I didn't scare you?" He pouted. "Nope. Maybe next time." I said, smiling.
"What were you doing into he closet, anyway?" Ryuk asked. "I was looking for Ryoko's diary." Gelus answered. "Excuse me?!" I shouted. "What? You always told me you kept your diary on the top shelf of your closet." He said.
"Yeah, but I didn't know you would remember! That was 13 years ago! And that's an invasion of privacy!" I said. "Let this be a lesson to you; Don't tell Gelus about your personal things." Rem said. I sighed.
"What did you want with my diary, anyway, Gelus? What were you planning to do with it?" I asked. "Just draw some doodles in it." He said. "You know she would get angry at you, right?" Ryuk mentioned. "That was the point. It's fun when Ryoko's angry." Gelus said with a chuckle.
