The little girl, dressed all in white, defied the laws of gravity and drifted lightly to the ground.
She had a very pretty face, so pretty it was out of the league of even ukiyo-e[2] paintings. Her expression was childish yet strangely adult.
In her hand, she held a huge scythe. It looked like something the god of death would carry. But the little girl’s appearance and the aura she emanated were far removed from an image of death.
“Hello,” the little girl said in greeting. “I’m a shinigami.”
It didn’t seem like she was kidding.
“Daniel,” she told the cat. “Do that thing.”
“Okay, Momo!” The black cat deftly stood up on his hind legs. Bringing his tail to the front, he grabbed the white tip with his forepaws and formed a ring. The little girl reached into the middle.
“Nnnngggghhhhhhhhh… ahhaaannnn… uhuuuheeheeheehee…”
The black cat shrieked and howled dramatically—they were neither shouts of pain nor joy—as the little girl pulled an ID card from within the “hole.” She took pains to show her ID.
On the card was plainly written, “shinigami #A-100100.”
Give me a break, Rikoko thought. First a ghost, now a shinigami.
The shinigami didn’t look the part. Plus, it had a name. She was Momo, and her black cat was Daniel.
Rikoko let out yet another sigh. She decided this might be appropriate, depending on how one thought of it. Because right now, in front of her, though she still didn’t want to believe it (but she had no choice in the matter), were a ghost and a shinigami.
Which must mean the shinigami has come to claim the ghost. And now I’ll be released from Yanagihara.
As if hearing Rikoko’s thoughts, Momo said, “Well, at least half of that is true.”
“I’m not only in charge of him,” Momo continued, “but of you as well.” Momo turned her black eyes toward Rikoko.
“Huh?” Rikoko said. “What’s that mean? I’m going to die too? Or does it mean something else…?”
This time Momo didn’t answer. Instead she said, “People only realize the preciousness of something once it’s lost. So unless you hold onto it tight, you’ll lose it. Or maybe because you have so many precious things, you’re not aware of the ‘most’ precious thing?”
She was a strange one. No, she was really strange. Not only didn’t she look anything like Rikoko’s mental picture of a shinigami , but Rikoko couldn’t understand a thing she was saying.
“What are you talking about…?” she asked.
But Momo wasn’t done speaking. “Soon things will turn out just as you want them to. You don’t need to worry. He’s only been allowed a short amount of time…”
By “him,” of course, she must have meant Yanagihara.
Oh, I see. Well, that’s just fine and dandy.
“So when is he supposed to disappear?” Rikoko asked, but Momo was ready to leave.
“Let’s go, Daniel,” she told the cat.
“Okay.”
Momo and Daniel simply disappeared, as if they had melted into the air.
“…and that’s how it is.” Left behind was the still-smiling Yanagihara.
They confuse a person and then just up and disappear?! Well that pisses me off. Am I going to die or what? I didn’t learn anything. What precious thing? Lose what?
“So what’s the deal?” she asked aloud. “Who the hell do they think they are?”
“Isn’t she a shinigami-sama?” Yanagihara answered, though he looked just about ready to burst out laughing while he said it.
…Jeez! Argh… My head hurts.
✦ ✦ ✦
She had become aware of it about a week ago.
“Oh boy. This might be… bad.”
It was something she couldn’t talk about. Something she couldn’t tell anyone. She could never tell. Of course, she couldn’t even tell “him.” After all, he was…