Eventually, the clouds parted, and the rain stopped. The radiant sun arrived.
The white shinigami was crying. But despite the tears, she was smiling beautifully.
“Thank you, shinigami-onee-chan. For helping Kota, for rescuing Blue.” The young girl expressed her gratitude with all her heart.
But Momo shook her head. “No, I wasn’t able to do anything. Not for you. Not for them.”
Tears flowed, shed for this strong little girl and for that kind young boy.
“But onee-chan, you’re such a crybaby. You’re crying even more than Kota was.”
“Yes,” the shinigami replied. “Because this is how I am…”
Daniel rudely butted in on the conversation. “It’s because you’re such a meddler. I think it’s practically a sickness with you. Yup, that’s what I think.”
The little girl laughed. “Ha ha ha!” Getting a hold of herself, she said, “Then please, go ahead. I’ve already said ‘thank you’ to Kota. I’m all right now.”
Momo nodded sadly, then swung her dull-colored scythe. The girl’s soul was released… white, hot, shining.
Momo thought, I deliver memories, warmth, kindness, everything… because all those reside in the soul.
“Sigh… Every time, I get sad…” Daniel murmured with a blank expression on his face.
Surprised, Momo replied, “You never used to say that before. You always said it was just a job.”
“Uh… W-well, it isn’t really like that…”
“You’re talking funny,” Momo said teasingly. But she stopped short. She had suddenly noticed something.
A short distance from where she and Daniel floated in the air, a black shadow hovered distinctly. It hadn’t been there a minute ago.
It was another shinigami. This one wore a black hooded cape that covered its entire body. It was garbed completely in black. This was the normal appearance for a shinigami.
On the other hand, Momo wore a peculiar white outfit, making her stand out starkly among other Shinigami.
“…What’s it doing?” Daniel wore a suspicious expression.
The shinigami was looking straight at them.
“What’s it doing in another shinigami ’s territory…? I wonder if something’s up?” Daniel asked Momo.
Momo replied, “Who knows…”
She stared at the other shinigami, never taking her eyes off it for a second.
“Hmm…” Daniel mused. The cat wondered if there was some kind of trouble at the shinigami bureau. Maybe that was why the black shinigami was there. Or perhaps Momo had done something he didn’t know about.
Daniel was troubled; he had a nagging suspicion that the latter was more likely, considering Momo’s everyday actions and words. Maybe there was nothing he could do about it.
Wracked with uncertainty, Daniel said, “I’m going to talk to him.”
He flapped his bat-like wings and took flight.
“Hey—wait, Daniel!”
But the cat could no longer hear Momo’s calls.
In an instant, Daniel was at the black shinigami ’s side. He hesitated a bit and asked, “Uh… did something happen, sir?”
The shinigami did not answer. The face covered by the hood remained fixed on Momo. Now Daniel was even more convinced that Momo had done something wrong.
In a panic, he mumbled, “This must be… Uh… Momo must have done something, I know it!”
W-w-what should I do…? he thought. I mean, what in the world did you do, Momooooo…?! I’m totally being ignored! He’s not even looking at me! Hmm… All right, maybe I’ll apologize? But what am I doing, apologizing all of a sudden?! Maybe this shinigami came here on the order of some big-shot bureau director? That’s right! That must be it. Then there’s no use apologizing. What should I do?!
Daniel’s worry was clearly visible to Momo, even from a distance. But Momo was more preoccupied with the shinigami, from whom she could not avert her eyes.
The reason was uncertainty.
It held in its hand a huge black scythe, much larger than the one Momo carried. Momo’s scythe was scarcely ever used for its intended purpose; there was hardly a scratch on it. But the other shinigami ’s scythe had darkened to black and was covered with scratches. Clearly, it was well-used.
There was more. Normally, a scythe would never become that worn from regular use. Where had those countless scratches come from?
In the next instant, all of Momo’s suspicions were confirmed by the black shinigami itself.
Without warning, it grabbed Daniel’s tiny head in its hands.
“…What?!” Momo couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Fgyahhh!” Daniel screamed as his body flew through the air.
“Daniel!”
She couldn’t have mistaken what had just happened. The black shinigami, while still holding onto Daniel, had subjected him to a shockwave.
Momo, never taking her eyes off the shinigami even for a second, flew immediately toward Daniel. As she flew, she glared at it, a look that could kill.
Still, she felt panic welling up within her.
Why? Why would a fellow shinigami do this? Shinigami only obey orders from above. They’re practically left without the use of their own free will. And how could it harm someone else’s servant demon?!
Daniel’s limp body hurtled toward the ground at a dangerously fast pace. Just as she reached out toward the cat, she felt it.
Gwaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
This time, the powerful shockwave’s intended target was Momo.
✦ ✦ ✦
The blue had spread. The sky was clear. The only things floating in the sky were white and black.
“…?!”
Unable to withstand the full force of the shockwave, Momo’s slender body was blown back.
She screamed. “Kyaaahh!”
Concentrating hard, she straightened up and faced her opponent. It was looking down on her. Never saying a word, it prepared to fire another round.
“Ngh.”
Having no clue how to counterattack, Momo nevertheless took a defensive stance. She had never fought against anything before. She had never fought before, period. After all, up until then she had never had any reason to fight.
She knew that she had strange powers. She and all of the other shinigami possessed this “power.” So Momo didn’t think it was anything special. Just a moment ago she had used her powers to surprise that boy. She believed that they weren’t supposed to be used to hurt anyone—they were supposed to be used to help. They were necessary for those types of situations.
Momo had a strong spirit and great resoluteness—a determination not to use her powers for a bad end. This shinigami, on the other hand, was using its powers quite casually. It had hurt Daniel and was coming after her next.
“…Kyaaah!”
Again, Momo was thrown back by the blast of the shockwave.
Why… ? It’s a fellow shinigami… So why…?
Again and again, it attacked. But Momo couldn’t do anything. Her tiny body wasn’t quick enough. The damage was great, and her entire body was wracked with pain.
What made Momo special was her ability to feel certain sensations. Because she was able to understand the suffering of human beings, she also felt the sensation of pain just as they did.
Momo was fast losing her grip on consciousness. Even so, the black shinigami was relentless in its attack.
Gwah,
Gwah,
Gwah,
Gwah went its scythe.
It continued to attack Momo mercilessly. Momo’s frail body was knocked to and fro by each shockwave, like a listless rag doll.
“…How boring…” the shinigami murmured, in a voice that sounded almost like a sigh.
Gwaaaaaahhhhh…
It swung its scythe in an even larger arc. Momo received the full force of an enormous energy blast and plummeted toward the earth.