Markus looked up at the hand offered to him. ‘What the Hell? Why not?’ Reaching up, he clasped Lucifer’s hand-

-and found himself sitting on a floor that wouldn’t have looked out of place in any standard office.

Lucifer hauled him up easily. “There we go! Well? What do you think?” he asked, gesturing around him.

Markus took in the space, noting the single, large, ornately carved wooden desk, devoid of any accouterment. Casting his gaze to the blank, pasty walls, a disappointed frown crossed his face. It wasn’t a small office by any means, it was just…

“Kinda empty, boss,” Markus said with a shrug. “I don’t dislike it, it just feels… I dunno. Impersonal?”

Lucifer looked at him with a smile. “Yes. It absolutely is. This gives you the freedom to decorate it and make it your own. Put your own spin on death! Of course, you may absolutely leave it as is, if you’d like. No pressure either way. Do note that if you do decide to decorate, all expenses will be yours and yours alone. We will not assist you. Is that clear, Markus?” he asked.

Markus nodded. It sounded reasonable. “So, how will I get here? I can’t teleport like you,” he asked, his mind reeling with possibility.

“Simply focus on your office, and open a door. Any door. It’ll lead you here. When your shift is up, the “clients” cease to come in. Once you’ve finished with the last one, just open that door, and you’ll go back home. Of course, if you wish to explore the “building”, you are more than welcome to do so. In fact, let me make it official. Come with me,” Lucifer said with a beckoning hand.

The pair walked out of the office, and Lucifer shut the door behind them. With a finger, he wrote-

Markus W. Barton

Soul Liaison

-on the door to his office in a beautiful font. The lettering smoldered in the air, giving off a lovely cedar scent.

“There we are. It’s official. This is your office. During your training, you will be approached by your coworkers and taken to their offices. Once the month is up, you will be coming into your own office to take on your own set of “clients”. I’m not going to spoil anything, so you’ll just have to wait until your first day to find out how everything works. What do you think so far?” Lucifer asked with a broad smile.

Markus stared at the door, with the still-smoking letters in awe. “I’m a Soul Liaison? Like, that’s my title?” he asked softly.

“Yes. Why? Is something wrong?” Lucifer asked, concern breaking across his handsome face.

“No, not at all. It makes me sound…. I dunno. Important, I guess. Never really felt that way before,” Markus said with a self-deprecating huff of laughter.

Lucifer took his newest employee by the shoulders and gently turned him around to face him. “Markus, my dear man. You are important. All of life is important, yes, but your job is now the most important thing you will ever do. You’re guiding souls to their afterlife, man! What could be more important than that?” he said softly, gently squeezing the younger man’s shoulders.

Markus turned beet red and smiled. “Thank you, Lucifer. I’ve never had anything like that said to me before. I’ve never had a job that was actually important before,” Markus said. “I’ll do my best to not disappoint.”

“That’s the spirit!” Lucifer exclaimed, clapping Markus’ shoulder. “Let’s get back to Kitcho, shall we?”

Markus nodded and opened his new office door-

-and found himself standing outside the restaurant with his new manager, his boots back on his feet. “What the…?”

“And here we are. Back in Japan. Give your friend a call. Take the pair of them out to dinner. You may not, however, reveal your new job to any mortal. In fact, you will be unable to do so. Just tell anyone that asks that you now work for a global placement agency. You may discuss your job with your coworkers, naturally, just not in public. There really aren’t any rules for conduct or anything. If you wanted to, you could go out and start random bar fights, and you’d still have a job. As long as you survive, that is. You can come to work in your pajamas, if you’d like. Or naked, even. I have several associates who do just that, actually. Quite nice, I say,” Lucifer stated.

Markus nodded and pulled his phone from his pocket, and sent a text to Kimura-san, letting him know he was ready to be picked up.

“Oh! Before I forget, the young lady inside wished to give you this,” Lucifer said, pulling a folded slip of paper from his pocket, handing it to Markus.

“Ikeda Akane, huh? And her number. Interesting. Are you trying to set me up with a date, Lucifer?” Markus asked with a wink.

In response Lucifer tucked his hands into his pockets with a smirk and walked off, whistling a jaunty tune. “I’ll see you in thirteen days, Markus!” he called back, and faded into nothingness, his disembodied whistling echoing across the street.

Markus shook his head at the absurdity of it all. He wandered back to the sidewalk and sat at a bench nearby, his mind reeling with the possibilities. A Soul Liaison, huh? That just sounded too cool. He hurriedly pulled his phone out and checked his bank account. Sure enough, an extra four thousand dollars was sitting there, pending, but available. He smiled broadly. He could definitely treat his new friends to a nice dinner.

Atsuki pulled up a few moments later, and Markus got in the cab, his face painfully neutral. He slipped his seatbelt on, and nodded to his friend.

“Well? How did it go, man?” Atsuki asked, excitedly.

Markus quirked an eyebrow and looked over at his new friend. “Well, I’ll say this much: I got an advance large enough that I can treat you and your brother to dinner tonight.”

Atsuki smiled broadly and laughed. “Way to go! See? I told you that you’d do fine, Barton-san! So how was the food at Kitcho? I’ve always wanted to try it,” he said.

Markus smiled and launched into a heavily redacted accounting of his afternoon.

**********

Akane gathered the neatly placed dishes, gently placing them onto the tray she had. What an interesting man, that Barton-sama. She had never seen an American quite so large before. He reminded her of a bear with all that hair on him. She giggled softly and blushed at the image of a bear eating at Kitcho.

“And just what has you so happy, kouhai?” Hanako asked her.

Akane started, the dishware clattering on the tray. “Senpai! You startled me. I apologize. My mind was simply elsewhere.” she replied, inclining her head.

Hanako laughed softly, gently lifting Akane’s face to meet her eyes. “Don’t fret, child. I will say nothing of your outburst earlier. He was rather handsome, yes?” she asked, her eyes glittering with laughter.

Akane blushed even more and nodded. Hanako laid a motherly hand on her shoulder and smiled. “It is good to be young. I envy you sometimes, Ikeda-kun. Your imagination is wild and free, and you have a long life of joy ahead of you, my dear. Let’s get this room cleaned, and then we can leave. Okay?”

Akane nodded at her senior, and the pair of them got to work.

An hour later, they had finished their duties and changed clothes, when Akane’s cell chimed out “Ready, Steady, Gooooo!”. Akane picked up her phone and checked her messages.

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It was an unknown number, but she knew the face immediately. How did he get her number? It was a picture of Barton-sama in front of Kijurou with the message “Join me for dinner?”.

“What’s the matter, Ikeda-kun? Is everything okay?” Hanako asked.

“Ichikawa-san… It is the American from today. He sent me a text” -Akane turned her phone to her friend- “and is asking me to dinner. What do I do??” Akane asked, her hands shaking.

“Go! You silly thing! He’s handsome and is asking you out! Go have dinner with him. Do you want an escort? I will go, if you wish,” Hanako said.

“Please? Oh, but what do we wear? Is this good enough?” she asked, gesturing to her blouse and jeans.

“You are a beautiful woman, Ikeda-kun. I am sure he will be pleased. I, however, am an old woman, and this granny will beat him senseless if he doesn’t like you!” Hanako replied with a laugh as the pair set off for Kijurou.

**********

“....and then he pulled a paper from his coat pocket, placed it facedown on the table and slid it over to me. I picked it up and when I looked it over, it seemed to be an offer letter. I accepted immediately. I’ve never seen a pay rate that high. We are set for life, Kimura-san. I don’t have many friends in the States. I can take care of all of them with this. And you and your brother, too. Speaking of him, let’s go get him and celebrate!” Markus said, wrapping up his (slightly altered) tale.

Atsuki nodded and drove over to the apartment he shared with his brother. While Atsuki was inside, Markus busied himself with adding Ikeda-san’s contact information into his phone, and looking around for a restaurant.

After about fifteen minutes of searching, he settled on a place called Kijurou, and smiled. It seemed like the perfect place for a celebratory dinner/first date. After another couple of minutes, the brothers appeared, both dressed a bit nicer than before. Atsuki had even taken the time to put his hair into a wild style, while Gen had opted for a more subdued clothing choice.

“So where to, Barton-san?”

“It’s just Markus, if you please. How does Kijurou sound to you two?”

“Excellent choice, Markus. Genkai? Sound good to you?”

Gen nodded eagerly, hunger fueling his smile.

They loaded themselves into the car, and sped off towards the restaurant. Gen and Atsuki peppering him with questions about his home in America, his family, his relationship status, and the new job he was due to start. Markus answered truthfully to everything except the new job, of course.

“...been there for the past two years. She has all but forgotten who I am, for the most part. Although, there are some days that she does remember me. Those are special.” he said with a small, sad smile.

“Wow. I’d forgotten how bad Alzheimer’s can be. I am sorry, Markus.” Atsuki said. Gen nodded his agreement.

“It’s okay. I’ve gotten used to it. I visit when I can, and life goes on,” Markus replied with a shrug.

The trio sped along quietly, their somber thoughts consuming them.

“Here we are! Kijurou!” Atsuki proclaimed as he parked the car. They all climbed out, and Markus had a thought.

“Hey Atsuki. Would you take a picture of me in front of the restaurant?” Markus asked, handing his phone over to his friend.

“Sure.” Atsuki replied, lining up Markus’ large frame in the photo.

Once snapped, he handed the phone over to Markus. “Why did you want that?” he asked curiously.

“I’m going to invite a lovely young lady to meet us,” he said with a grin.

This got the brothers’ attention and they began teasing their friend. They got in, and got a seat, mentioning that there was an extra guest arriving soon. They ordered drinks, and sat talking for a while before being interrupted by Akane and Hanako’s arrival.

“Hello, Barton-san! I’m sure you remember Ichikawa-san, yes?” Akane said.

Markus stood, offering the pair a short bow, motioning for them to take the seat he had just vacated as he moved to sit next to Atsuki. Didn’t want them to feel pressured to be beside him, after all.

“Ichikawa-san. I am pleased to properly meet you. Ikeda-san, Ichikawa-san, these are my friends, the brothers Kimura Atsuki and Kimura Genkai.” he said gently.

Atsuki stared at Ichikawa-san. His eyes seemed to glaze over. Gen elbowed him in the ribs, and Atsuki shook himself back to the present. Ichikawa-san smirked and shook her head mirthfully.

“Are we okay, Kimura-kun? You seemed like a lost child for a moment there,” she said, leaning on the table, her chin in her hand.

“Y-yes, ma’am. I, uh… I’ve just not seen a woman like you before. That’s all,” he replied, his face turning crimson. He hurriedly took a gulp of his beer.

The rest of the group chuckled good-naturedly at him. Seeing him get flustered was kind of cute, actually.

The waitress returned, inquiring at to drinks for the ladies, and Markus spoke up. “So sorry. Please excuse me. You ladies order whatever you wish. I’m buying. The entire menu is open to all of you,” he said with a smile.

The newcomers smiled at each other, and placed their drink orders, and the waitress departed.

As they all looked over the menu, Akane began grilling Markus on his new position.

“So what kind of job did you get? I know it has to be a good one. Not many people in this world can afford to rent out Kitscho for an entire day,” she said excitedly.

“It’s nothing too glamorous. I’m just going to be making sure some people get the placements they deserve, is all. My home area is back in Kentucky, but I’m lucky enough to be able to work from anywhere. Even here in Japan, should I choose to,” he said with a grin and a wink.

It was Akane’s turn to blush, and she hid her face behind her menu. Atsuki and Gen turned to stare at Markus.

“He rented out Kitcho for an entire day?” Atsuki asked.

“It seems that way. I think he has an arrangement with the owner. Said he’d done this a few times before,” Markus answered with a shrug, sipping his tea.

Genkai nodded sagely. “It sounds like you have a truly wonderful boss, Markus. A good boss for an obviously good man. Kanpai!” he said, raising his beer.

A rousing chorus of “Kanpai!” came from the assembled group as they raised their glasses in toast.

“You know, I almost left you there at the airport?” Atsuki said.

Akane and Genkai both gasped in shock as Markus gave a half-smile. “Really? What stopped you from doing that?” he asked.

“You looked so pitiful standing there. And alone. I got irritated with myself for being so harsh, as I thought you were just another dumb, rude American. So, I figured I’d at least apologize. The way you acted was like a puppy that just got picked at the shelter, so” -both Akane and Genkai said “Aww!”- “so I figured it couldn’t hurt, and you were headed near to my house anyway. I’m glad I did, though. You’re a good man, and even if you weren’t going to help Gen-kun and I, I’d still count myself richer for knowing you,” Atsuki said with a smile.

“Wait. What does he mean you’re going to help these two?” Hanako asked.

“Well, since they didn’t have to help me at all, I figured I’d repay their kindness toward a stranger. While I’m here, however long that is, I’ll make sure the two of them are well-cared for. They are my friends, and I am theirs. Folks will help you in America, but it is usually done behind a motive. When I explained my situation to Atsuki, he called his brother to help make sure my beard was cared for, and that I looked and smelled my best for this day. He didn’t have to. He just did. That’s rare in my experience. In return, I’ll make sure they are taken care of as best as I can,” Markus said with a broad smile.

Hanako sat back, observing this man in a new light. Who did things like that anymore? Certainly nobody she knew. Maybe Ikeda-kun was safe with them, after all. She smiled as the other four kept talking, simply listening to the comfortable chatter of youth for an hour or so.

“Tell me about your home please, Kuma-kun?” a slightly drunk Akane asked Markus.

The others looked from Markus to Akane, who was slowly turning a brighter crimson as she realized what she had said. Markus smiled warmly.

“Well, Usagi-chan, my home is a rather warm place in the summer, and cooler in the winter. Not much different than the weather here. In my home state, there are broad patches of woods and fields between the cities. You could fit almost four of my home state in Japan. It is a beautiful place, but I think Japan holds more beauty. A fair bit of it in this room right now, I’d say,” Markus replied, looking gently into Akane’s eyes.