My Soul to Reap (Archived)

Shinigami

I felt physically deflated after I was done, wrapping my hands around the coffee to try and let the warmth inject some life into me. Kayin was quiet, and he stayed quiet for a while. I looked down nervously, not wanting to meet his eyes. The stupidity I'd felt earlier was coming back with a vengeance now, and I would have rather melted into a puddle on the floor than have Kayin think this badly of me.

"You look like you need something stronger than a coffee," he said finally, and my head snapped up. A slow smile spread across my lips, and I managed to relax a little.

"You know I haven't really had much luck with alcohol lately." I pointed out, and he nodded in agreement.

"Cake then," he concluded, all mock-seriousness as he called the still-pissed waitress over. I laughed and looked down, trying to hide how funny I found the whole situation. Here was a girl who was pissed at us for interrupting a conversation. That was the biggest problem she had, and here I was running from a vampire. When she was gone I really did laugh, and Kayin didn't seem to have to ask why.

"You know I'm going to have to call them," he said, and the mood lowered a little as I played with the now empty mug.

"I figured that," I replied, staring at the dark ring the coffee had left on bottom of the mug. Again I was avoiding his eyes, which was the stupidest thing because I knew he wasn't someone I should be nervous around. I slid my hands under the table, playing with the bracelet around my wrist.

"Wait, what?" I asked quietly, but the question was cut off by the passive-aggressive smash of plates against the table. Kayin was being purposefully polite at her, and as a result he didn't hear me.

I was conflicted, and very confused. I'd been so focused on one thing at a time that I'd forgotten the knife, and now it was back around my wrist. Like a smaller version of Brie's scythe. It scared me, because not only did I have no idea how it changed but I didn't know what all it meant. I knew it came from Brie, but I didn't know what that meant. Had she given me part of the scythe as a peace offering? Had she known I'd need to protect myself? I took a deep breath, forcing myself to let go. It wasn't something I wanted to bring up right now, that was for sure. Right now I wanted to eat cake with Kayin.

With that decided over the span of a few seconds, I looked up when the waitress was gone. There was the promised two slices of chocolate cake and- a third. I stared at the plate sitting behind Kayin for a second before realization kicked in.

"When did you call her?" I said, sighing in defeat.

"Texted her as soon as we got here," he said simply, starting to eat and throwing me an apologetic glance. Somehow, I didn't really think he was sorry. Resigned to the fact a probably pissed Brie was about to walk through the doors, I figured I might as well eat my cake while I could. It wasn't long before the bells rung at the door, signalling it had been opened. The look on that waitress's face was one of pure anger, and that at least made me smile for a second before the storm hit.

Except, it didn't. Rina walked through the doors, glancing around for a second before spotting us. My heart dropped, because I had a feeling she would be just as mad as Brie would be, if not more so. But as she walked quickly towards us, I didn't see anger. As soon as she saw me the tension from her shoulders was gone, and she smiled in pure relief. I could feel tears brimming at my eyes, stupid as it was, because she broke into a run and almost tackled me over. I squeezed back tightly, breathing in ruffles and not really caring. She broke away abruptly, sitting primly beside Kayin who just shook his head.

"You're going to hate me for this, but I already filled her in," Kayin said casually, continuing working away at his cake. I wanted to be angry, but at the same time I was impressed he'd managed to hide that. Then again, I had been avoiding looking at him for a large portion of the explanation. Rina had gone suddenly very quiet, and I frowned in concern. She was very still, staring at the cake in front of her wide-eyed. Kayin shot me a look before clearing his throat.

"You can eat it you know. It's for you." Her eyes lit up in an expression of pure joy, and I had to laugh. She looked so happy we might as well have just announced we'd found the cure for every chronic disease on the planet. She nodded once before digging in, getting icing on her cheek in the process. Kayin was trying not to laugh but failing miserably, and I didn't even bother hiding my own giggles.

"Rina, you're adorable," I said finally, and the toothy grin she gave us made us both collapse into laughter. It felt nicer than I'd like to have admitted, be able to laugh like this. She finished quickly, and I could see how happy she was. Somehow, I didn't think it was really from the cake. Kayin patted her head and she glared at him, which just made us all smile more.

"I still can't believe you're older than Brie," I laughed, returning to my own neglected cake. She smiled, but there was a tinge of sadness to it. I got the feeling I'd said the wrong thing.

"I'm not, really," she admitted. "She just thinks I am." I frowned, and she seemed to understand that I wanted an explanation.

"I met her just after I turned. She was in Japan for whatever reason, and I was confident enough reaping souls that she just assumed. It was somewhere near the middle of the Meiji period I think..." she paused, tapping her chin. "Oh! Which would be around the Victorian era, for you. She was supposed to go back to France and decided to take me with her. My English was horrible," she laughed, and I could tell the longer she talked the less she was focused on the present. "And my French was even worse. We learned English together, the two of us, and had to move on to England. They didn't have enough reapers, so we were helping out. That's when we became friends." I nodded in understanding, and even Kayin was listening intently. This wasn't a story that got told very often.

"From there, we stayed together for a long time. Eventually she came to America, and I went back to Japan. It was very different from when I left it, but it still felt like home. I lived in Shibuya, mostly, went to school for a while even. But eventually I came to Canada, because at this point there were a lot of reapers everywhere. We didn't see each other much, and it's really been a long time," she sighed, and I could feel her swinging her legs under the table.

"She's always been so rough, Brie. But she always means well," she mused, and I got the feeling she'd forgotten we were even here. She tilted her head to the side, seeming to actually focus on me.

"So don't be too rough on her, okay? She's been through a lot." I nodded, smiling. It occurred to me just how young Rina looked. I'd never really noticed before, because everyone so far was older than they looked. But this girl had to be in her late teens, at most. I imagined little Rina, all alone, getting swept up by Brie. And I understood why they were so close.

"I think... I think I can say that time was the best time of my life," she said, nodding. "That time with Brie in England, that was my favourite time." And suddenly the dresses, her style made sense. She'd held on to that time, had held on to when she found herself through Brie.

"Thank you," I said, and she looked up in surprise.

"Eh? What did I do?" she asked, and Kayin looked honestly like her older brother as he ruffled her hair.

"For telling us that," he finished for me, and she shrugged.

"Well, she'll be here in a few minutes anyways," she said, and Kayin and I both froze.

"Rina?" he said gently, just as I heard the door bang open. The bitter waitress had lost her anger, and she just looked genuinely startled. And a little scared.

"That wasn't a good idea."