A Dusk By Any Other Name (BoyxBoy)

XXVI: Grief and Resolve

Jaide's P.O.V

"Yes... I understand..." I said, lying both to Death, and myself...

..."No, you don't. But that's okay, I don't expect you to."

I didn't respond to him.

I guess I do understand where he's coming from when I'm putting myself in his shoes but still, it hurts... I don't want to go through with it at all...

I'm losing my memories... Who in the world would want that?

"I'll give you plenty of time to spend with them, just let me know when you're ready." He said, reaching on his tip-toes to pat me on the shoulder. Like it made me feel any better...

I walked to them, feeling so bad I could choke on my tears... My chest feels so heavy it's almost hard to breathe correctly along with the wave of emotions pummeling my mind.

Letonin ran to me and gathered me in a huge, heartwarming hug that made me weak to the knees...

I sobbed on his chest. "He told you too?"

"Yeah." He answered...

"And... you're okay with it?"

He pulled away slowly from the hug, his eyes tearing up. And shook his head no before embracing me again...

The others were silent, but I could hear the sniffs and sobs coming from Cyrine.

I let go of our hug and hugged the closest other person, that being Illicero.

He was surprised at first but hugged me back nevertheless.

I walked to Navi as he opened his arms wide before wrapping them around me, and picking me up in the process before letting me down, making me laugh a little. He's a big person, but I didn't expect that from him.

Before getting a chance, Emillia ran right to me and hugged me, her perfume scent hitting my nose like no one's business. "I'll see you again for sure. But next time, you won't see me as awesome as you see me now."

I smiled at that, and then turned to Cyrine.

"You get to see me like usual." She shrugged, giving me a hug that I happily returned.

"I know. I'll have my best friend with me, and that's a blessing in itself." I said.

The two of us looked to the four of them... I had to wipe another tear from my eye...

"We don't want to forget any of you guys... You've all done so much for us..."

"Jaide..." Cyrine said softly. "I'm not losing my memory after today..." She stated.

"You're not?"

"I'm a demon Jaide, if I forget everything that just happened, history is able to repeat itself with me if I'm not aware of what I am. My parent's made that mistake, and look where it lead us. And god knows why they kept it a secret from me..."

"I see... I get that..." I responded, once again, lying to myself. I at least wanted to feel like I wasn't alone in this...

"But hey." She added. "You still have your mom, and you still have me."

"You also have me." Letonin chimed in.

I made a face. "Won't you have to go back to being a Reaper of Order after everything is over and dealt with?"

"I could... unless I retire." He said, a grin forming on his features.

"Retire?" Death suddenly popped in. "You retire once you've completed 8 years of service as a Reaper of Order."

I looked to Letonin, worry filling my head with doubt.

He smirked, and unbuttoned his long sleeve collared shirt, revealing a killer toned body, with developed abs and a V line that teased to the direction between his legs. He caught me looking, and twisted his tongue as he smiled, knowing exactly where my mind went.

Completely shirtless, he showed Death the right side of his body. Upon lifting his arm, we see solid black circles marked on his body, 9 of them...

"I served you for 9." Letonin sassed back, earning a whistle from Emillia as the guys clapped in amusement.

Death looked dumbstruck for a moment, but quickly regained his composure.

He took a breath. "......Very well... although this does mean I'll need a suitable replacement."

"Don't worry about that too much." Illicero assured. "I can easily find someone worthy of our position, I mean, I found Sendex right?"

"You're correct." Death agrees.

"But I'll also need someone below my power once again now that Crepsus is no longer among us; thankfully."

".......Navi." He suggested.

"What? Me?" He asked, surprised. "I... I couldn't... I can't..."

"Instead of saying what you cannot do, why don't you tell me that you're willing. And that it would be an honor to serve at such a branch in our society..."

"Yes... Lord Death... It would absolutely be an honor to be at your service. I know to use my power effectively, but responsibly; I won't disappoint you."

"I know you won't." Death stated, smiling to him.

"Wait, so then what are you going to do if you're retiring then Letonin?" Illicero asked.

"Isn't that obvious?" Letonin retorted. "I'm gonna be a new Senior at Jaide's school, and I'm going to get a second chance to fall in love with him all over again."

He looked to me, taking my hand. "And hopefully, he'll fall in love with me all over again."

....I didn't know what to say... I'm happy... And I'm hopeful of everything that'll happen after today is over with, when I'll forget that today even existed...

I keep holding Letonin's hand.

Cyrine held his hand from the other side, as Illicero took her hand, and Emillia taking his, and Navi taking hers.

Now as we all held hands, Death finally asked. "Are you ready Jaide?"

A final tear crept down my left eye, but I smiled anyway.

"Yes." I answered.

He nodded, and stood on his toes again, but this time he raised his hand to my face, and flicked my forehead, causing everything to black out before me.