Re: The Divinity of a Death Well Lived [Akri ] (not sure if adult or not)

[Akri]

Tora felt his fingers twitch, already slipping power into his finger tips. It was foolish. It could kill him. It was dangerous. It was so easy. Sliding down to the floor until he rested on his knees beside Shou's bed, he watched; his face impassive as his hand rose up in front of the other.

"Do not forget this gift..." he said softly, his hand sliding inside skin and flesh, finding it's familiar grip on Shou's heart, his soul. "A cure is all you ask to keep you alive...then you shall have it," he whispered, gasping as everything left him. He felt ever trickle of power as it surged from his fingers, spreading through the soul he gripped, seeping into the wounded body. As every heart beat grew stronger, his own waned until he was sure he would cease to be.

Releasing the boy, he pulled his hand back, only managing to cast an unfocused gaze on his hand as he held it in front of his own face. His vision swam and then went dark as he collapsed onto Shou's bedroom floor. His body no longer flickered here and there from the veil, but a solid being on the wooden floorboards as the last of his color drained from him, only a few streaks of his original black hair remaining.

[Avadedra Hetarra]

Shou didn't notice the other coming close until he heard him speak. His eyes opened, confusion shining in them. When had the guy gotten so close? Wait... what was he doing?

His breath caught and he whimpered as the other's hand sank into him. It felt strange, but he couldn't describe it. Then, his heart lurched and he gasped loudly, a high whine breaking out of him. He could feel something inside of him changing. His head spun a little, then cleared.

Catching his breath, he sat up just as the other fell over. Eyes wide, he looked over the side of the bed.

"Oh... no way..." he said breathlessly, reaching down to poke the man's shoulder. "Hey... hey! Crap, you better not be dead..."

Sliding from the bed, he felt around the other's throat, wondering for a moment if Reaper's even had a pulse. Shou was shocked to find one, slow but steady. Turning the other, he watched his chest rise and fall a few times before he relaxed.

"This... is crazy! What am I supposed to do with you now?!"

[Akri]

Tora's mind swirled in a abyss of memories of the last few years of his life. His entire existance had dwindled down to bright eyes and broken smiles. One boy had thrown his entire world upside down and he'd done it again. No matter how foolish, how dangerous this game was, he found himself falling into the same traps over and over. Shou was going to be the death of him...if he wasn't already.

Was he dead? He didn't know. No one dared cross Death's decree before; not that anyone was aware of. But if he had ceased to be, why was his mind still racing in this endless void of an inescapable being?

Tora groaned softly, his body stirring as he drifted out of unconsciousness. His fingers twitched, then his limbs, muscles twitching under a force of gravity it was unused too. "...shou..."

[Avadedra Hetarra]

He jumped when he heard his name being muttered, clapping a hand over his mouth.

"You idiot," he grumbled. "Now I have to haul you off the floor..."

Getting up, he bent and wrapped his arms around the man. When he lifted, he was surprised at how light the other was. It helped in getting him onto the bed. Still, Shou was out of breath by the time he finished, and sat on the edge to rest.

"So... now what?" he mused out loud. "What do I do with you? And what did you do to me? I don't feel any different. Not really."

[Akri]

Tora had barely managed to open his eyes, the light so much brighter than he remembered, stinging his eyes. He felt Shou's arms around him, lifting him from the ground, his mind struggling to put the rest of the pieces together. It was Shou. He knew that without a doubt. Shou's touch was as familiar to him as that burning weight in his wrist.

Feeling a wave of panic at the solid weight on his arm, his eyes flew open, his head rolling to stare at his empty wrist. It took a second to process, but he managed to eventually calm enough to realize he was on Shou's bed and not the floor anymore.

He glanced around until his eyes fell on the slender frame of the other, watching for a moment. "...cure...you wanted..." he mumbled, the task so much more exhausting than he thought it should be.

[Avadedra Hetarra]

Shou looked over his shoulder at the person on his bed. He frowned, then looked away.

"So... what do I call you, anyway? You never did introduce yourself." Shou shuffled around and laid out beside the man, crossing his ankles and laying his hands on his stomach. "I need to know what to call you if you're going to be taking over my bed..."

[Akri]

He closed his eyes, letting his mind filter through his names. His name was on his lips before he could stop himself. "Shinji..." he whispered. Oh if death found out he'd given his true name, he'd be in so much more trouble than he already was. But this was Shou....and Shou was special.

"...my name...is Shinji..." he whispered forcing his eyes open again. "But...I'm called...Tora."

[Avadedra Hetarra]

Shou turned his head to look at the man, his expression softening a little. He knew this exhausted look all too well.

"Shinji... I like that," he said softly. "It suits you. You should sleep. I get the feeling you're not used to needing it. Am I right? You're solid now..." He reached over and poked Shinji in the shoulder. "Very solid. So yes... sleep. I'll keep my family out of here while you do."

He put his hands back together on his stomach and looked at the ceiling again. He had no idea how he'd explain this to his parents; some strange looking stranger passed out like a frat boy in his bed.

[Akri]

Tora closed his eyes, taking several slow breaths, slowly brining his mind to as much focus as he could. It took all his focus, but he managed to just barely move his arm, reaching out enough to take Shou's hand. Hell...how did humans do this?!

"...later...first promise..." he mumbled. "Can't die...promise..." he whispered, his voice trailing off to nothing as he lost consciousness again.

[Avadedra Hetarra]

At the touch to his hand, Shou's face heated up to near burning. He twitched, but didn't snatch his hand away. Instead, he turned his head again, watching Shinji sink slowly into sleep. Blinking, he chewed his lower lip.

"I... okay, I promise," he said softly. "I won't. I won't. So just sleep already."

[Akri]

"Koharu! We're home!" his mother called stepping out of the way of the two youngest children as they raced inside. "Enough you two. Your brother is probably sleeping. We don't want to disturb him. Homework," she scolded.

Setting down her bag, she headed down the hall towards her eldest son's room. "Darling? Are you awake?" she called knocking on the door gently. "Have you taken your medicine?"

[Avadedra Hetarra]

Jumping up, Shou looked around the room.

"I did, yes," he called, going to crack the door a little. "I'm not dressed, though... so don't come in. I... I'm feeling a bit better today, so I'll come down to help with homework in a few minutes. Okay?"

[Akri]

Hearing the boy moving around brought a smile to her lips. It grew even bigger when the door finally slipped open for her to get a peak at her son. He wasn't nearly as palid as he had been over the last few months, something that was beyon rare. A part of her was simply overjoyed to see him up from his bed.

"Y-yes...of course dear," she said softly reaching out to touch his cheek. "Just don't over do it. Do you think you can eat something? If you're feeling a little better, perhaps something a little more solid...stew? Maybe ramen? What would you like? Anything you like...oh I must call your father. He'll be so happy to see you're feeling better today..."

[Avadedra Hetarra]

Shou made a face, gently removing his mother's hand from his face.

"Mama. Calm down. Don't get over excited." He spoke gently, not wanting to upset his mother. "I'm feeling alright. Stew would be nice. And don't bother dad at work. He'll see me when he gets home. Okay?"

[Akri]

She opened her mouth before closing it again. Giving a tiny nod, she turned her hand to squeeze Shou's for just a moment. "Right..." she said stepping back. "I'll start dinner. Take all the time you need. Don't forget to wash your hands and everything..."

Stepping back, she straightened herself out before heading down the hall to see to the other two. "Kids! Shou's joining us tonight! Make sure to wash your hands," she called, turning into the kitchen to start dinner. "He's offered to help with homework if you need it. Dinner will be in a hour, so get to it."

[Avadedra Hetarra]

Closing the door, he turned around to lean back against it. Sighing, his gaze fell on the sleeping man on his bed. His mother wasn't nosy, thankfully, and she let him take care of his own room behind the door. She still insisted on doing his laundry, though. Otherwise, she tended to stay out unless he needed her.

Sighing again, he went back to the bed and tugged a blanket over Shinji. Quickly, he changed his clothes and took the proper pills that he needed before he ate. He went back to Shinji and sat on the bed beside him.

"So, uh... I'm going downstairs. Family stuff. So, if you wake up or something, don't panic. I'll be back up in a couple of hours. Give or take."

He rose, looked down at the sleeping Reaper once more, then left to join his family downstairs.

[Akri]

"Shou-nii~" came a little boys voice, as he raced out of the bathroom to wrap around the elder boys leg in a hug. "You're up; you're up!" he chirped staring up at him. "Guess what. We've got a goldfish in the classroom and I get to feed it all week. And I got 100 on my spelling test! It was really hard too. You wanna see?" he asked already running off to find this spelling test to show to the older boy.

Laughing softly, Shou's mother stepped into the hall, drying her hands. "They've been studying extra hard since you made them promise to keep their grades up. Even his science scores have gone up. You would be proud."

[Avadedra Hetarra]

Shou smiled as he ruffled his little brother's hair, laughing a little as he babbled loudly and ran off. The kid was so full of life and energy, sometimes Shou was envious. But, he wouldn't trade that for seeing his siblings in the condition he was in. So, he sucked it up and did his best to be a good big brother to them.

His sister was a little more reserved. She hurried to him and hugged him around the waist. Between the two boys in age, she tried to be grown up when Shou was around. She looked up at him with her big brown eyes, and smiled.

"It's good to see you up," she said. "Mama said you're feeling a little better today. I told her letting me go to the shrine would help! And it did! See?"

Shou blinked, leaning down to kiss her between the eyes. "Yes it did. Thank you, Mina. Come on, let's go see what homework the two of you have."

Taking her hand, he lead her over to the table, smiling as the spelling test was thrust into his hands.

[Akri]

The young boy bounced in place beside the table, grinning proudly up at his brother. The younger one, Taku, had even neatly displayed his homework for the week, with his grades on display for his elder brother. Both he and Mina had put extra effort into their studies as it was one of the few things Shou was consistantly able to do with them. The smile he gave when they made an extremely good grade only seemed to make them swell with pride.

"See Shou. I told you, it was really hard," he stated matter-of-factly, turning to sit down at the table, spreading his arms across the surface in front of him. "I used that trick you taught me last week and it really helped. Pteradactyl was really tricky, but you read that dinosaur book to us so I was the only one in the whole class that got it right!"

Smiling from the kitchen, their mother watched the scene unfold before her. It was so good to see her eldest on his feet, his younger siblings doting him with their attention. They never frailed to ask after him when she picked them up from school and whenever they had the chance, the hoarded every moment of his time. Nothing made her happier.

[Avadedra Hetarra]

"Yes, Taku, I am very proud of you." Shou smiled and took a seat between the two children. "Pterodactyl IS a hard word. Good for you for getting it right. Now, get your math problems ready for me to check after dinner, okay? Are you still have trouble there?"

Mina took her seat to the left of their big brother and opened her science book. She was finally old enough that Shou didn't have to spend as much time with her, but she still liked it when he checked it for her. To Mina, Shou was the smartest person in the whole wide world.

[Akri]

Taku wrinkled his nose, but pulled his math forward. He hated the subject honestly. He saw no reason for it at all, but Shou liked it when he studied it, so he did try at least. Not that you could tell by his grades, they were some of his lowest.

"They have us doing division now..." he grumped swinging his legs under the table, dropping his chin onto the table with a huff. "I don't get it. I finally got subtraction, but this is harder. They tell me to group it, but that doesn't make any sense. Which way am I supposed to group it and how does that get me an answer? They aren't very good at it either if they can't show me."

[Avadedra Hetarra]

After leaning over to see that Mina was doing alright on her own, Shou shifted closer to his brother.

"Don't get too discouraged, Taku," he said gently, pulling a piece of scratch paper from a spare notebook. "Look. We'll start with this problem here. I'll do it on my paper, and you do it at the same time on yours, and we'll go as slow as we need until you understand it. Okay? Now, look..."

He showed Taku how to lay out the problem and took it step-by-step, not moving on until the little boy understood what was taking place.

[Akri]

Taku leaned closer to Shou, watching his brother closely, copying him as much as he could. His brow furrowed as he mimicked each step trying to follow along as he went. It took him a few tried, but after about the third or fourth time he thought he understood enough to move to another problem. Scrunching his brow, he focused on the new problem before sliding it over to Shou to check it. "Like that?" he asked looking it over again.

The trio's mother stepped out of the kitchen with a small tray. The soup would take a little longer to cook down so she'd made a few drinks for the three working. Setting the tray down, she handed each their drink, looking over the work as well, though she stayed silent for a moment. "Koharu...did you have any homework yourself? If you have any left...maybe you'd like to work on it down here with everyone else. A change of scenery..."

[Avadedra Hetarra]

He watched Taku work and smiled. He was getting it, slowly, but he was getting it anyway.

"Here... remember to do this, though," he said, gently showing him how to correct it.

Shou looked up at his mother and smiled. "I finished it before I took a little... nap... this afternoon. I might bring down one of my books after dinner. There's a history test soon."

[Akri]

Taku nodded, pulling the paper back to work on his corrections. While wrote out a few more problems, trying them out a few more times, working slowly to try and keep from making the same mistake. It was a little tricky, but he was pretty sure he was getting it.

She smiled ruffling his hair gently before kissing the top of his head. Looking at the two other children, she once more glanced over their sheets before stepping back and heading for the kitchen to check on the soup. "Alright dear. Would you like the big chair tonight? Or maybe the couch?"

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