ᴀ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ || ꜱᴏᴜᴋᴏᴋᴜ

• 2 •

Students were pouring in one after the other at noon, when most lectures ended, and Chuuya tried his best to look at the human faces and not gag. He was beginning to get bored around two in the afternoon, when students fizzled out of the café to either go to their accommodation or attend another lecture. Soon there was hardly anyone in the shop and it gave the staff some time to talk.

"So what's Mr Executive doing in Yokohama during the day?" Tachihara grinned, leaning back against the cash machine. Hirotsu let a disgruntled grunt and swatted his elbows away from the till with a rolled up piece of newspaper.

"I was given an assignment on an apparently tricky-to-reap soul."

"Ah, Oda's boy right?"

"How did you-"

"He's a freak when it comes to other grim reapers, he knows everything about everyone." Higuchi informed, stacking some of the clean cups behind the coffee machine. "He should attend the gossip lecture."

"There's a gossip lecture?"

"No, Tachihara." She sighed, "this is why you were sent to the overworld."

"That's rude." Tachihara frowned, and Higuchi flicked his forehead. He groaned. Grim reapers can't feel pain, so Chuuya wasn't sure where this groan was coming from. They returned to a comfortable silence, with the slight tinkles of cups and the whirring of the coffee machine. Chuuya watched as the others busied themselves, not sure what to do.

"How long has it been since you reaped a human Chuuya?" Gin asked, wiping a table with a wet cloth. Chuuya let out an exhale as he counted in his head.

"2013 was when I last came to the overworld, so it must have been then."

"Ten years? Times have changed since then, Rita Ora is out and Odetari is in." Higuchi spun a plastic to-go lid on her index finger.

"Who the fuck is Odetari?"

-

It was just gone past three when they finally got more customers. It was a small group of humans, consisting of four men and one woman. They seemed to be lost in their own chatter up until they reached the counter.

"Ooh, they finally have red velvet cake in again!" A short (yet still taller than Chuuya) man with raven hair and a paperboy hat pressed his face against the clear glass. He was practically salivating. Gross.

"Ranpo you're going to be sick if you eat anymore food." The woman said, her red glossed lips pressed into a line. Ranpo stuck his tongue out at her and fished his wallet out of his sweater pocket.

"I'll have one, no two, of your finest red velvet cakes!" Tachihara pushed Chuuya towards the till, making an excuse to make sure the coffee machine was working. In reality, he just wanted Chuuya to suffer. Chuuya reached for the red velvet cakes in the display and attempted his best customer service voice.

"Sure that'll be-"

"Are they fresh?" The man asked, his eyes squinting, scrutinising the cakes in Chuuya's hands.

"They're packaged."

"So they're not fresh?"

"I'm going to be so real with you, this is my first shift." Chuuya stiffened as the group laughed amongst themselves.

"Whatever, I was just testing you!" The man giggled, snatching the cakes out of his hand and replacing it with cash. "I hope you have a good day sir!" He turned on his heel and sat down on one of the freshly cleaned booths that Gin had just wiped down. A taller man with white hair, and a singular black streak running through it was next. He had rosy cheeks that only seemed to redden as he spoke.