Kuroyuki: Through the Eyes of the Shinigami

Chapter 3: I See Mercy

Two unlikely brothers, meeting halfway. It was supposed to be a joyous reunion after years of trifling contact with each other since their parents separated.

A few mortal moments before…

“Mom really fought hard…” said the guy sitting in the front passenger seat of the running black car. The one behind the wheels just continued driving, without any hint of responding.

 “She was happy… even in her final moments…” he added, “She can finally rest…”

“…Shut up…” A soft whisper was heard from the driver’s seat.

“Tetsu?” asked the guy to the driver. “What did you say?”

“I said shut up, Aniki!” roared the driver, in response to his companion.

“Oh… I… I’m sorry…” The companion, Takato, didn’t mean to offend his younger brother.

The inside of the car went silent. The atmosphere became tense. One can definitely feel the hostility, albeit with a passive undertone, between the two.

“To be honest, bro…” Takato spoke again, trying break the silence.

“What?” said Tetsu in an angry tone.

“We did our best for Mom,” Takato cleared out his words.

Those words pierced Tetsu like a bullet. Anger suddenly built up inside him. With a killing stare he shouted, “…We? Did you just say… We? WE?”

 As Tetsu rebutted on his brother’s statement, he unconsciously stepped up the acceleration of the vehicle.

“Yes… What’s wrong, Tetsu?”

A delivery truck speedily approached from the other side of the lane.

“Where were you when Mom was calling out your name?!” Tetsu’s frustration flowed out.

Takato was stunned. He had no idea what made Tetsu react this way.

“Where were you when Mom fainted right in front of me? Huh?! Where were you?! Where were you when Mom went into a coma?! When she was dying? When she was struggling?!” Tetsu’s eyes were full of loathing towards Takato.

“I…” Takato couldn’t continue his sentence. He suddenly became hesitant.

The driver of the delivery truck, who was under the influence of alcohol and substance abuse, barely looked awake and was unable to maintain his eyes on the road.

“And now you just said, ‘We?’, when apparently you weren’t even there for her… even in her utmost time of need!”

The distance between the truck and the black car continuously shortened, in the middle of dusk.

“Never say ‘We’ again! Never!”

“..I…I’m so…”

Just when the elder brother was about to exhale the words out of his mouth, everything then went full black, into silence.

***

“Wha--?” claimed Tetsu as he suddenly appeared on a golden scale platform.

“Where are we? Are you alright, Tetsu?” Takato asked from the platform straight across the giant scales held by a hooded figure.

“What just happened?” Tetsu asked confusingly.

Just as the brothers pondered their current location, two figures materialized right above them.