“Ugh, were you called too?”
The moment the door to the Death God’s Mansion was opened, the listless god pulled a face.
The inside of the mansion was lined with tables and chairs, just like a large courtroom. A large cross was adorning the wall at the center of the stage, and the massive door right beneath it was illuminated by the light streaming in from the entrance.
Inside the mansion was a beautiful young man, seated on a chair. He turned his face toward the entrance, where he heard a voice and spoke.
“Given the way you’re dressed, I thought you were someone else, senpai.”
The listless god wore a suit with a black cloak, gloves, and a neatly tied black necktie.
“You certainly don’t look like the ‘God of Matchmaking.’”
The listless god tilted his head as he walked toward the smiling, beautiful young man.
“Well then, what do I look like?”
“A Death God?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Saying so, the listless god directed his gaze at the massive door and let out a sigh.
“Ah, if you’re here, it means we’ve been assembled for the Fuuka Ishibashi case, huh? The thought of those high-ranking Death God geezers coming in from that door is seriously bothersome. The talk will definitely drag on.”
“Shall we block the door? It’s the only connection around here between the two worlds.”
As the beautiful young man pointed at the door with a playful look, he continued, “But it can’t be helped, right? You made a strange contract and toyed with Fuuka Ishibashi’s soul, senpai.”
“Huh? That was you! You tried to kill a soul that wasn’t due yet!”
“I’m offended. I merely tried to fulfill her wish. It’s you who made it complicated, senpai.”
The listless god snapped at the young man’s nonchalant statement.
“It was already a mess when I found her! She was in the other world even though she still had a lifespan, and she lost her memories. All of it was your doing.”
“I wasn't planning to reap her soul yet, but since the opportunity arose, I thought I'd guide her right away.”
“The opportunity arose?”
“She chased after a soul that I was guiding. Living beings with a waning soul flame can see the souls of those who are dying. I thought she wanted to come to this side, but I was wrong.”
“Guiding… You mean another person died?”
“Yes, I think her name was Misa. Although her physical death was still a long way off, she had been longing for death for a long time, so I helped her.” The beautiful young man gestured with his thumb and index finger, creating a gap of just a fraction of a centimeter. “The flame of her soul was also about to be extinguished.
“Poor thing. No one around her seemed to notice, and the body without a soul that was discovered was already starting to rot.”
The listless god had a disgusted expression on his face.
“Why do you bother to reap a soul that still has a lifespan? I wouldn’t want to increase my workload.”
At his words, the beautiful young man gave a slight smile.
“I want to help. I want to save souls for whom this world is only an endless darkness of suffering. After all, aren’t we Death Gods the only ones who can give hope to such souls?”
The mansion fell silent. The beautiful young man looked toward the listless god, who said nothing in response and scratched his own cheek as if he were pondering something.
“Not sure. Souls are stubborn. They can take a tiny spark of hope and fan it into a big flame.”
“Like with this Fuuka Ishibashi and that boy… Is that what you’re trying to say?”
At the young man’s question, the listless god gave a meaningful smile.
“I was wondering why you made a contract with Fuuka Ishibashi and sent her soul back to four years ago. Was it a coincidence that you found her soul?”
“No, I was searching for it. Fuuka Ishibashi’s future had changed, and it had caused some trouble.”
The beautiful young man tilted his head.
“Four years ago, there was a stubborn old man who kept the flame of his soul burning despite being at the end of his life. The rookie Death God in charge couldn’t handle it, so I was called in. The reason the old man kept the flame of his soul burning was because of his grandchild.”
“Grandchild?”
“That boy, the grandson, didn’t have any hope for his future, and as the years went by, the flame of his soul became weaker and weaker. The old man must have felt that too. When he died, his grandson would be left alone. He was concerned about his grandson, who could not form deep relationships with people, and he couldn’t quite let go of life.”
The beautiful young man looked as if he had realized who that grandchild was.
“So, I showed the old man the future recorded in the Death God’s notebook. The future where the boy and a certain girl’s fates intertwined.”
The listless god continued his story, swinging the black notebook he took out of his breast pocket. “The old man was finally convinced by that future. However, you changed it. The content of the future I showed the old man in the past changed.”
“Isn’t it your fault for trying to finish your work quickly by showing the future? The future is not set in stone, after all.”
At the beautiful young man’s exasperated words, the listless god gave him a dull look.
“In the notebook, the condition of Fuuka Ishibashi on the verge of death in the future was recorded. I thought it was strange and looked for her soul, just to find out it had lost its memories. But, well, it still had a lifespan.
“A normal Death God would try to return a soul with a lifespan to its body. Once that was done, the future will revert to its original state. I thought about leaving it to any Death God because the procedure is troublesome, but then you had to get involved.”
“That’s harsh.” The beautiful young man gave a bitter smile.
“As I was thinking about what to do, Fuuka Ishibashi said, ‘I don’t want to die.’ Then I had an idea: ‘If I send this girl back to the past as a soul, wouldn’t that solve everything?’”
“Solve everything?”
The listless god gave a smirk.
“The boy, whose soul’s flame was weak, could see Fuuka Ishibashi’s soul. If the two of them met in the past and their soul’s flames grew stronger, the old man would be freed from worries about his grandson, and Fuuka would be able to return to her original body. All I needed to do was to explain this situation to the old man. Additionally, if it was right before death, when his flame was flickering, it would fulfill the old man’s wish to meet his grandson’s fated partner.”
“So, the catalyst of their hope was matchmaking?”
The listless god nodded.
“The connection leading to their future has been established. Well, it seems Fuuka herself hasn’t realized yet that the fates she was supposed to tie together were hers and that boy’s.”
“Wind and flowers, petals dancing like snow… was the meaning of her name, right?” Upon saying this, the beautiful young man furrowed his eyebrows. “Indeed, she and the boy became each other’s hope with time. As the flames of their souls grew larger, the boy was becoming unable to see her soul. However, the flame would become smaller again if their hope became an illusion. And hope is not everlasting.”
“True. I don’t think you’re wrong. But you see, I was counting on a small pilot light that would save the fire of their souls until the last moment.”
“A pilot light…?”
“Yeah. The soul’s flame of the black cat, which had weakened due to its instinctive sense of death from injury, also grew larger after meeting the two. Until all the flames burn out, living beings retain the power to fulfill the life they’ve been given.
“Even a faint flame can ignite someone else’s fire. It can even rewrite someone’s unfortunate ending. The soul that strives to live until the very end is hope.”
Saying that, the listless god opened the black notebook he held. The characters written under the name “Fuuka Ishibashi” in the notebook were disappearing on their own, being rewritten anew.
“Look, it’s Fuuka Ishibashi’s new future.”
“Huh?”
Ignoring the puzzled, beautiful young man, the listless god, with a full-faced grin, gazed at the future being recorded in the black notebook.