I Am Who? - Book 2

Chapter 10 - Reaper

Kotaro's hair was longer than it had been when I had last seen him. It was messily tied up to keep it out of his face, but a few rogue strands brushed his high cheekbones, almost obscuring his intensely dark eyes. He looked wilder than my memory would have led me to believe, but there was no mistaking it was him.

His eyes moved lazily from Grimmel to me and back, and the intensity of his eyes was more startling than I recalled. Boredom painted his expression, and as different as he might appear, that much, at least, remained unchanged. I still couldn't see what he was thinking behind that mask, but that was no surprise: he had only dropped that wall once in my presence, but the bloodied Kotaro, who had been beaten to a pulp by the order of his own father, was nowhere in sight now.

"D-don't co-come a step nearer!" Grimmel's voice was loud in my ear, reminding me of the situation at hand and making me flinch.

Kotaro said nothing, but the corner of his lip jerked up in an arrogant smirk. He banded his arms across his broad chest, displaying his weaponless hands. He had saved me so many times, and a sense of relief flooded me at the thought that he had come to do so again.

"Don-don't even move!" Grimmel said nervously.

He was shaking like a leaf behind me, trembling as though he thought he were dead already. Evidently, he knew exactly who Kotaro was, and he was terrified. It was no wonder, either: standing before the dark-clad figure his self-importance and arrogance were gone, and he must have felt much like a pre-pubescent boy who had been discovered misbehaving by an authority figure.

The sword blade scraped against the tender flesh of my neck, and I winced slightly, my eyes dropping from Kotaro to the steel for a moment. In the face of Kotaro's presence, the thought that death was hovering so close didn't frighten me. I trusted him.

"I-I'm warning you: i-if you take another step, I-I'll sl-slit her throat." The blade suddenly grew steady, and he pressed it more firmly against my skin.

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Kotaro's voice was smooth and even, and despite the fact that he held no weapon, he sounded twice as dangerous as Grimmel. "Go ahead."

Forgetting about the sword on my throat, I looked up at him in mute horror as the words left his mouth. He didn't even spare me a glance and shrugged nonchalantly as if he were bored. There was no hint of concern for me in his demeanor, and the thought crossed my mind that perhaps he hadn't come to get me at all.

"Wh-what?" Grimmel was shocked.

Kotaro sauntered a step forward. "I said: go ahead. Did you expect to hear something different? Am I supposed to care what you do to her?"

"Bu—" Grimmel cut himself off short, and I could almost hear the wheels in the back of his head turning. "You're Reaper." The words came out as barely more than a whisper.

A certain light sparked to life in Kotaro's eyes at the name, and for the first time since I'd known him, I actually felt fear spark to life when I looked at him. They were the eyes of the most feared man in King Erik's castle, the man who inspired brave soldiers to whisper his name in fear. Suddenly, I remembered what Roth had said about those two men, and looking at him now, I could see there was accuracy to the story.

"You—" Grimmel's voice was hoarse and dry.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Kotaro said, raising a brow.

Grimmel inhaled sharply, his surprise evident as he took a half step back. Apparently, he had thought he could preserve his life by using me, but Kotaro's careless attitude was throwing him off. His grip on my arm weakened slightly as if he suddenly wanted to just let me go and run off into the night without a second thought. He seemed completely at a loss.