Chapter 19

La-La Point of View

Now I am with Axel. He mentioned that since we are doing well and we are fine with each other, I might still be able to help in his work because it’s unfair otherwise. I agreed, considering I wasn’t occupied with anything else. I even suggested that I could probably assist Yuna, but she reassured me that she was fine. With Ellie’s help, she was confident everything would be alright.

So here I am, sitting in front of another hospital while Axel is inside, getting us coffee.

“You better not run,” I warned the soul sitting next to me she is captivated by Axel power. She’s a young woman, appearing to be around 18 years old. She is the soul that Axel needs to guide to the afterlife.

"Like as if I had a choice," she said with a resigned tone.

I sighed, feeling the weight of her defiance. "What even are you? You’re different from that other guy-" she asked, curiosity in her voice.

"I am a Love Hunter," I replied.

"You mean like Cupid?" she asked, her eyebrows raising in surprise.

"Yeah, somehow," I answered, feeling a bit weary from the explanation.

This girl had made us chase her for what felt like two exhausting hours, and now, finally sitting here, I couldn't help but feel a mixture of relief and frustration. This is tiring-

Flashback

"You must be Hannah Hanz," Axel said, addressing the girl sitting on the bench. Despite not having a ring, we could see souls and other supernatural creatures roaming around. So the girl in front of us is a soul.

"So what if I am?" she responded arrogantly without looking at us, her eyes narrowing at Axel.

But then, as she looked more closely, a flicker of recognition crossed her face, and she was momentarily shocked of course because of Axel looked. Axel smiled, and for a brief moment, it felt as if time had stopped between them. In that instant, it was as if I didn’t exist at all.

"Who are you?" the girl finally noticed me, her gaze shifting in my direction.

I smiled warmly. "I'm La-la," I introduced myself, but she looked me up and down, clearly judging me. Oh, this brat...

"Okay, and who is this handsome man?~" she asked, turning her attention to Axel.

Ugh. "Oh, I'm Axel. I'm here for a reason: to take you," Axel said calmly.

"Oh, you guys are reapers," she concluded.

"Yes—" Axel began to confirm, but before he could finish, the soul bolted. We are both shocked.

"Sh—" Axel cursed under his breath as he took off after her. I quickly followed suit.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

As we ran, Axel and I were fully visible, making our way through the bustling crowd outside the hospital. The area was teeming with people, adding to the chaos. People are even shouting at us because of the ruckus.

“Get out of the way!!!” I shouted, trying to clear a path through the throng of bystanders.

I saw Axel reaching for his scythe. “Don’t! You’re not wearing a hat,” I warned him. I knew he heard me because he immediately stopped what he was about to do. Now, I was keeping pace with Axel.

“This is a joke, right?” I muttered, frustrated by the soul’s doings. She was deliberately causing chaos, disrupting people and plants alike, making it harder for us to chase her. “She better stop before she does something worse,” I said.

“D-do you think that’s the problem now?” Axel asked, glancing at me with a mixture of concern and disbelief.

“Well, it seems like that is also a problem” I said, continuing to run. We kept dodging the obstacles in front of us, struggling to keep up with the soul who was sprinting ahead. She fast-

“She might be a freaking athlete!” I exclaimed, breathless from the chase.

“Well, she is,” Axel answered. I looked at him in disbelief and stopped running, causing him to stop as well.

“Why did you stop? Are you okay?” he asked me, concern evident in his voice.

“You know, you better wear your hat and just capture her by flying,” I suggested.

“I didn’t carry my hat,” he admitted.

“What? Are you dumb?” I asked, frustration clear in my tone.

“Well, it’s only one soul, so I thought it wasn’t worth carrying it,” he said with a shrug.

I sighed. “Then let’s continue running.” He is a dumbass was he?

I took off again, and he followed close behind.

End of flashback

I sighed. “This is a joke,” I muttered.

“You were human before, right?” the girl asked me as.

“Well, I might have been,” I replied cautiously.

“Are you not created or something? Like from a light source you know like the written in fairy tail?” she asked, her curiosity piqued. I thought if she didn’t like me.

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“Well, we're not created. This is just a job given to us” I explained.

“A job? You mean being a Cupid is a paid work?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s not paid work, we’re not paid by money” I clarified.

“Then why are you doing this job?” she asked, genuinely puzzled.

The moment fell silent between us.

“I guess it’s some kind of secret,” she said, breaking the silence.

“No, it’s not. We are receiving punishment because we are sinners, and that punishment is this job” I explained solemnly.

“Oh,” she reacted softly.

“So you better not have any sins, or you will end up doing our job too,” I warned her.

“Well, I don’t remember doing anything bad. I’m just used by people who are bad,” she replied casually.

I was baffled for a moment. What did she mean by that?

Third Person Point of View.

A sharp slap echoed through the air as a mother struck her daughter. "You've gotta be kidding me!" she shouted, her voice filled with anger that made Hannah flinch. Her face, obscured by her hair, bore the sting of the slap.

"I raised and fed you, and this!! This is all you can do?!!" the mother demanded furiously, throwing the silver medal she had been holding. It clattered to the floor, a noise reminder of disappointment.

She gripped Hannah's shoulder tightly, her frustration is obvious. "If you can't do anything better, then you might as well be gone. You're failing your grades and failing in something you used to excel at," she said , pointing her finger accusingly at Hannah's forehead. "You really take after your father—a useless," she spat, pushing her finger into Hannah's forehead.

Hannah remained silent, her spirit crushed, as her mother stormed out of the room, leaving behind an oppressive silence and a daughter struggling to make sense of her shattered world.

“"Hey sis!" Hannah's brother barged into her room without hesitation, a smirk playing on his lips as he observed her current state. "Oh, I guess you did something wrong again," he taunted Hannah.

"Well, who cares," he scoffed, tossing some money at his sister before smiling. "I need some things for my project. I'm too tired to go out, so you better be the one to buy them," he ordered, then promptly stormed out of the room.

Hannah sank to her knees, silently absorbing the weight of her brother's words, tears streaming down her face.

She had done nothing wrong in her life. Hannah was a child who always tried to handle things maturely, hoping to preserve the love within her family, but they often took advantage of her kindness.

At school, Hannah arrived and immediately felt the weight of judgment from her classmates. Born into privilege, she was often seen as a nepotistic child, entering every room with an air of dignity that only seemed to invite contemptuous glances.

"You're as late as usual, Ms. Hanz," the coach said as she walked in.

"I apologize," she murmured, feeling the weight of the looks from her peers.

"You can't just keep apologizing, Ms. Hannah. Show consideration for others and be on time," the teacher reprimanded sternly, it began the hostile atmosphere around her.

"I understand," Hannah replied quietly, trying to maintain her composure despite the increasing judge by the eyes of people in the room.

Hannah was weary of being constantly honest. Her coach had once liked her, but as her failures piled up, his attitude toward her had changed. Gradually, everyone around her began to see her as more and more useless, their disdain for her growing stronger with each passing day.

As Hannah rested, she noticed a man—George, one of the star basketball athletes at their school. She couldn't help but be mesmerized by his presence. Just as a ball was about to hit her, George rushed over and caught it in time.

"Good thing—" he murmured, his concern evident as he looked at Hannah. "Are you okay?" he asked, noticing her startled expression.

"Huh—oh, I'm okay," she managed to reply, taken aback by his sudden appearance.

"That's good to hear," George said warmly, a gentle smile on his face. Hannah's eyes widened as time seemed to slow down, the strands of George's brown hair floating in the air as their eyes met. It felt like a shot from Cupid's bow.

On that moment on they’re relationship grow however…. Fate might had other plan-

The glass shattered in the dining room of Hannah's house as her mother, seated across from her at the table, threw a glass that narrowly missed her. Her brother continued eating, seemingly unfazed, while Hannah froze in fear.

"Get out of my house now!!!" her mother shouted, her voice filled with rage.

"Geez," her brother muttered under his breath.

"You keep on disappointing me, you brat!!! How far will you go??!! I heard from my friend—wait, a boy? Just because you had someone lovey-dovey, you think you've been through the worst? You are f***ing useless!!!" her mother shouted at her.

Hannah didn't stay silent this time. Instead, she stood up abruptly and slammed her hand on the table. "What now? That's my only happiness," she retorted angrily.

"Your happiness should be in your achievements, you brat!" her mother shot back.

"That's your damn happiness, mother," Hannah said bitterly. "It's not mine. You only care about my achievements so you can boast about them."

"You brat—" her mother began.

"Yeah, I'm a brat, but I'm not far worse than my brother here. What do you mean 'failing'? I'm second in my class at school. I've done my best to make you happy, but all you—ALL you do is make me suffer... just because—just because of father," Hannah's voice quivered with emotion.

Her mother's face hardened. "Don't you dare mutter a single word—"

"Just because father left you for some woman, you see me as him," Hannah said, her voice shaking with emotion.

"Hannah Hans!" her mother shouted, her face contorted with anger.

"What I'm saying is true! All you do is shout and demand—shout and fucking demand! I've done my best in this house. I've fulfilled my role as your perfect daughter, but all you do is keep complaining—comparing everything to him! What has this guy even done? Nothing! He's an addict pursuing medicine, for God's sake!" Hannah's words poured out in frustration.

"Mother, just because—just because of my father—no, it's worse! You kept beating me," she continued, tears streaming down her face.

"Hannah, you're out of line!" her mother shouted back.

"No matter. We've already crossed that line," Hannah said defiantly.

Her mother, enraged, grabbed a utensil and hurled it at Hannah, hitting her head and causing blood to trickle down her face. But instead of showing remorse, her mother screamed, "Get out!"

"You're all crazy," Hannah muttered as she pushed away from the dining table, her mother's rage wreaking havoc around her.

Hannah left the house to seek solace with George, the person she loved deeply. Standing outside his house, she dialed his number anxiously. George answered promptly.

"Oh babe, what's wrong?" George asked with concern.

"Where are you?" she inquired, her voice trembling.

"I'm at my friend's house," he replied casually.

"Is that so?" Hannah responded coldly. Suddenly, George opened the gate, accompanied by a woman exiting his home.

"Is everything okay, babe?" the woman asked, but as Hannah watched, George kissed the girl goodbye. Her world shattered in that moment.

"Babe, are you there?" George's voice called from the phone, but Hannah abruptly ended the call. The person she had relied on for salvation, who had supported her through everything, had just betrayed her. Tears welled up in her eyes as George entered his house.

A message popped up on Hannah's phone: "Is everything fine?" She stared at it, feeling the weight of betrayal and heartbreak wash over her.

She hurried through a desolate alley, where not a soul stirred. With only the moonlight as her guide, Hannah pressed forward, lost in her thoughts. Suddenly, a figure emerged from behind and plunged a knife into her back. Shocked, she sprinted away, not daring to look back at her assailant. The knife is still attached to her.

"You have a beautiful soul," the man's voice echoed behind her as he gave chase. Despite the searing pain and blood soaking through her clothes, Hannah ran on, the adrenaline numbing her senses.

Gunshots rang out, piercing the night air. Hannah staggered as bullets grazed her, but she pushed forward, desperate to reach safety. She stumbled into a crowd of people, gasping for help. "Help," she managed to utter, collapsing to her knees.

Instead of rushing to aid her, the crowd recoiled in fear, eyes wide with shock. Hannah's heart sank as darkness closed in around her. She reached out, grasping for help, but everything faded into blackness.