Lies & Guilty ~ A Grim Reaper's Top Secret

The Beginning of A Downfall ~ Thorns of Death~

"Hey, good job as usual, Alan!" Eric's lips twisted into a wide grin, winking his left eye towards his partner of several years, Alan Humphries who had successfully retrieving a Cinematic Record of an 87-year-old Welsh man, Mr. Gruffydd Bevan who passed away after suffering a stroke at his London-based house. The record displayed the life history of this Welsh businessman who hailed from Cardigan, the Principality of Wales, being born to Welsh parents and inherited the family business at the age of 45, married to a 20-year-old Southampton woman namely Marge Bennett but no child was produced though the marriage. He was also a womanizer, with a string of beautiful women came to him one after another as projected in the Cinematic Record.

Alan's chartreuse phosphorescent orbs were fixed onto a page in his white file as the record rolled and inserted itself into it, beaming a smile of satisfaction when his job of accepting it almost done. "Human tries to run and run from death, like this Welsh old man. Went to all sort of pharmacies, hospitals and shamans to get rid of his illness, nonetheless everything he did was in vain. Death will come to you no matter how far you run, how fast your legs carry you, how formidable the walls of your house, how much money you poured to gain immortality.... Above all, you dealt with demons to prevent the inevitable arrival of Shinigami." A crack of laughter from Alan broke the silence of the night.

While his eyes glued at Alan who was about to stamp 'COMPLETED' on the page, Eric approached his once-upon-a-mentee-turned-partner and placed his hand onto the latter's slender shoulder. Eric responded his partner with a belly laugh after his eyes caught the details of the freshly obtained corpse. "Looks like he cursed death for his entire life, blaming death for the loss of his parents, relatives and lovers. We're being hated by many, but I don't give a piece of shit out of them!"

"Eric-senpai," Alan said solemnly, his voice seemed to change the bright atmosphere into a hollow, dark one. "Did you know that this man pleaded me to spare him from death between his silent screams?"

Eric's eyes grew wide, "Pleaded you? Aren't you supposed to be immune of that?" He repeated, wondering if his ears did not need cleaning.

The junior Shinigami let his gaze fell upon Eric's compelling look, darting deep into his yellow-green eyes as if trying to hypnotize Eric. "My heart ached again as I reclaimed his soul and this time, the pain is even greater than before. For years, the old sickness was kept repressed, but it seems that this pain is getting more serious every time I fail to discard emotion whenever I perform my job."

"Alan," Eric paused, before continuing his conversation. "What do you mean? I thought you're recovering."

Alan lie to me again and again. How can you cheat me  when your symptoms are visible day by day?

Alan shook his head; his hands closed the ever-opened white file and held it closed to his chest. "I hide my sickness because I don't want you to worry about me. And...I want...I want you to see me as a reliable partner," he said in a low voice, his right hand was brought to place upon the center of his chest as if his hand could hold onto his heart.

"Alan, by telling me about your condition is also a part of being responsible as a teammate. And... you lie to me about your health again. You know I don't tolerate liars." Eric croaked a gravelly, full of regret tone of voice.

The junior Shinigami averted his vision from Eric towards the night sky, lifting his head upwards and let his yellow-green orbs assessed the sky. "That's why I can't tell you the truth, Eric-senpai. Besides, the pain comes and goes very quickly once I restrain the emotion of empathizing those pitiful dying people."

Eric quickly drew his mouth into a straight line and bit his lips as he felt a surge of impeding sense of dread within himself. He closed his eyes tightly, however every part of his body seemed to pick up the explicit, sending shivers down to his spine. "Alan..." he paused, then said, "by continuously doing that, you're not helping yourself nor helping me as your partner."