SHIN SEKAI: SPARK OF THE NEW WORLD

The face of death

There is a saying "he that greets danger with a smile must be ready to greet death same way" and there's also a probability that someone already said it even though I formulated it in my head 

"Was there a smile on my face when I died?" Shiro said to himself, as the quote repeatedly ran through his mind. 

   "By the way"he thought

   "where am I? " he asked as he looked around the dark empty void he was in. The only thing he could see was himself 

"Is this the afterlife? " he asked 

"Feels pretty lonely to me "

"No, that's the road to the afterlife " a voice answered from a direction Shiro couldn't make out. 

"I don't see any...." Shiro replied before realizing 

"Wait, who's there " he asked, feeling a bit confused. 

"So you can't see it " the same voice came again, this time from behind Shiro. 

Shiro turned to see a man with blonde hair, dressed in casual clothes as if he was on vacation. 

"Are you dead too" Shiro asked trying to understand the situation. Then the man laughed a little before answering.

   "I am not dead" he answered

   "I am Death" he said. then he smiled at Shiro who was now a whole lot more confused. 

The man in front of him wasn't what he envisioned death to look like. 

"Where's the hood?!"

"Where's the gown?!"

"Where's the scythe?!"

"And most importantly, Where's the skeleton face?!!"

All these questions fell out shiro's mouth with nothing to hold them back, and more would've come out if he wasn't interrupted.

"That outfit was lame?" Death answered 

"Umm...who told you that?" Shiro asked 

"Some guy" Death answered 

"Well this one is also lame" Shiro replied. 

Death smiled a little and looked at Shiro all over before mumbling to himself "like father like son"

"What did you just say?" Shiro asked, shocked at what he had just heard, but Death ignored his question and told him "get back to the land of the living, only those who can see the path can go to the afterlife "

"So I'm not dead?" Shiro asked, still confused at the things he was hearing.

"Just get out " Death answered calmly, tapping Shiro on the shoulder. 

"And how exactly do I do that?"Shiro asked. 

"Just wake up " Death replied in a higher tone 

"Oh, and one more thing... No matter how much you search for peace you will never find it"

"I feel my heartbeat, it's a bit out of rhythm. 

I feel my body 

I feel my breath 

I feel my hands. My right hand is free, but someone is holding on to my left. It feels warm 

It feels nice 

It feels hopeful 

It is filled with love"

"Now I feel my eyes 

They blink even when closed 

I see the rays of light that managed to penetrate my eyelids 

And finally, I feel like I can open them again 

I don't know how long I've been gone, but I'm back now "

Shiro woke up in a very familiar place, a place that he knew quite well, a place he slept in very frequently, a place he called his room.

"When am I going to ever wake up in a hospital?" he asked, with a sigh to back up his question 

"Die a couple more times and maybe that will happen" Dave replied

"Oh,you are here" shiro said as he sat up slowly and looked around. He checked his body to make sure everything was intact then looked at Mia who was still holding on to his hand

"How long have I been out?"he asked "days, weeks, months"

Dave just rubbed his hand over his face and answered "four hours" showing a bit of disappointment 

"What?, where you expecting some kind of epic return" he asked 

"you know, for someone who claims to be my father, you mock me quite a lot" Shiro replied 

"Anyway thanks for taking care of me. You have proven your position as the school nurse" he said again, smiling mischievously.

Dave took a deep breath as to try and stop himself from unleashing chaos then replied with a tone that expressed his discomfort "I am a well qualified medical practitioner who studied In the field of anatomy, neurology and dermatology; calling me a nurse would mean to say that am doing a job that was meant for someone else and I take it as an insult" he said 

"Everything I say to you should be an insult considering the fact that you do not remember how you got the qualifications you just mentioned " Shiro replied with anger on his face and a little sadness slipping thought.

"Is this about your mother" Dave asked calming down 

"What else should it be about?" Shiro replied

"How could one tell himself not to remember the woman he loved?" he asked

"You have nothing "

"Not her name not her face not even what she sounds like"

"You probably left her to die alone in some lonely place!!"

"She's not dead!!!" Dave yelled at the top of his voice, stopping Shiro's charade, then he proceeded to sit back down, and then the headaches began.

The pain that cursed through his body was so much that he rolled on the floor and screamed until it stopped .

"I look pathetic don't I!?" Dave said as he stood up and dusted his labcoat then sat down.

"The letter I wrote to my self is the reason I don't want to remember" he said.

"It said; if your memories should return, you will lose what you hold most dearly"

Shiro calmed himself down and asked 

"Why are you telling me this" then Dave replied 

"Because it is you that I hold most dearly and if I lose you, I have nothing" 

Those word had a bit of impact on Shiro. He was now paying attention to Mia who was still holding his hand.

"What I hold most dearly?" he murmured then shifted his attention back to Dave 

"You have seen that I'm fine" Shiro said 

"Why are you still here!?" he asked

"Am I not allowed to keep an eye on my son anymore?" Dave asked 

"Do you think I have some other reason for staying" he asked 

"Of course you do" shiro replied

"When I was shot, you treated me but didn't wait till awake I was awake"

"I lost and arm , and the same thing happen 

"And I know that getting stabbed in the heart isn't enough to make you spend more time wth me, and its and because of one simple reason"

"And what would that be?" Dave asked then shiro took a deep breath and looked at dave right in his eyes and answered 

"Its because I cause most of your headaches"

"You're right" Dave replied

"There is another reason I'm here " he said as he reached into his labcoat pocket and brought out a book 

"What is that" shiro asked curiously pointing at the book

"It's something I wrote down a long time ago...for you" Dave answered, stretching the book out to shiro 

"But you forgot right" shiro replied as he proceeded to get up from bed. First he placed his feet on the floor and then tried to stand up but gravity had other plans. he immediately slipped and fell and Mia who was holding his hand fell with him.

Mia awoke to see herself on top of shiro. She was overjoyed to see that he was alive. She couldn't contain her excitement, she hugged him with all the love she could give and tears ran down her eyes 

"Don't do that to me ever again" she cried repeatedly as she laid her head on on Shiro's chest and made no other movement

"I wont" Shiro replied in a reassuring voice as he said held her close to him.

After about ten minutes, Mia was still laying on top of Shiro, she was smiling and showed no intention of letting go

Shiro on the other hand, Shiro seemed to be suffering. He had just come back from the dead and still only had the strength of a day old baby, so he couldn't push Mia off him. and she had been refusing all his request for her to stand up.

"Mia please stand up"

"No"

"Please, you're triggering the wrong impulse"

"I'm pretty sure they re the right ones" 

"This is harassment"

"Not when the girl does it"

"My dad is still here"

"He'll walk out"

"No he wo....."

Shiro looked to see that Dave had already made his way out of the room. The next thing he heard was the door locking, then keys sliding in, then 

"I dropped the book on the bed, have fun"

"Oohh god" Shiro said in his mind then went back to begging Mia, everything he said was futile until 

"If you get up I'll take you out.... on a date"

"When?" Mia asked, raising her head up

"Tomorrow" he replied hastily 

"Okay" Mia said as she rested her head back on his chest 

"Can we stay like this a bit longer?, it's a bit soothing" 

Shiro said placing his hand on Mia's hair and falling asleep. It appeared that he needed more rest, and with Mia in his arms, he slept more peacefully 

Tanaka had just closed for the day and was ready to go home. She had decided to stay a little longer to keep account of things, and then ended up closing late. It was now 11pm and there was less noise than usual, less people on the streets, and less time for sleep. She hadn't walked far from her restaurant when she heard the sound of sobbing, as if someone was in great pain. She wanted to ignore it but the sobbing continued and she started to follow the sound. It led her to an alley where she found the source. It was a young man almost dressed in nothing despite the current freezing conditions of Fubuki island 

"Who is this man?"

"What is he doing here?" Tanaka asked herself as she unintentionally walked closer to him.

As Tanaka got closer, the man stopped sobbing, and looked at her but said nothing.

"Who are you?" Tanaka asked 

"Why are you here?" she asked again 

"Why are you in tears?" and again, but got no answer.

After a little moment of silence, the young man opened his mouth and said "I don't... I don't know "