"Would you please explain the whole thing to him now? Or do I have to do everything here?" Beyza asked irritably.

Akira rubbed his nose and sniffled a few times while Linus looked at him confusedly, until he blurted out, "Y-your Bitch? What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh, that was just some meataphor" Akira said reassuringly.

Linus looked visibly desperate. "You mean metaphor...?"

"Yes, exactly!"

"Metaphor for what?!"

"Well, we belong together from this day on. We're Bitches now. Each other's Bitch that is."

"My goodness..." Beyza had had enough. Her patience had run out. "This idiot here was supposed to kill you, but he didn't fulfill his mission—obviously," she said annoyed.

With these words, Linus was overwhelmed. The figure on the roof... That evening of Maya's party—that… that was Akira...?!

He looked at him in disbelief. Yes, without a doubt, it had been him. How could he not have noticed earlier?!And even more importantly; how could he have forgotten it in the first place?!

It was as if a thick layer of fog lay over the memories of that night, which was suddenly blown away.

"And now your destinies—" Beyza began but was interrupted by Akira.

"What Beyza meant to say is, I'm a Shinigami, and by not killing you, I have become human."

Countless questions raced through Linus' mind, but after the events so far, he didn't question whether they were speaking the truth. That was his least concern. Just the glow that Akira had brought back from the dead would now make him believe in miracles.

"B-but what does that have to do with me? I mean, why would you want to kill me?!" It felt weird to say these words. When did one ever ask such a question?!

Beyza and Akira looked at each other, as if weighing who should answer. Then Linus spoke again. "A-and why do you know so much about it anyway?" He pointed at Beyza. "Are you also a Shinigami or what?!" Then, literally and figuratively, the memories shot back into his mind.

Did she have this gun because she was a Shinigami?!

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"Now calm down first," Beyza tried to adopt a more empathetic tone, but it was as monotonous as ever.

"Calm down?! You all tried to kill me, while trying to kill each other!! How can one remain calm in that situation?!" He was getting more and more worked up until a soothing warmth enveloped his hand.

"Come on, let's sit down and take a breather," said Akira gently, and even though Linus didn't feel like it at all, he obeyed for some reason. An incredible calmness washed over him, and his thoughts became clearer again. However, the uncertainty and all his questions still remained.

Only now did he notice that Maya had been glaring at him angrily throughout the conversation. Now that he remembered the events of the party, he hoped she would never come near him again. He couldn't imagine that things would ever be normal between them again. Well, with Beyza and Akira, he felt the same, but at least they still had something human about them. Maya, on the other hand, seemed like a killing machine—perhaps she was a Shinigami too.

Maybe everyone here was a Shinigami...

If he had to hear that word 'Shinigami' one more time, as it shot through his thoughts, he would lose it.

"Linus? Linus...!"

The boy snapped out of his reverie. "Hm?! What?!"

"You were totally lost in thought... Are you feeling a bit better now?" Sitting together with Akira on the table—the blood was already drying beneath them. Apparently, Akira didn't mind sitting in his own blood puddle, but Linus found it macabre.

"Yeah... I'm okay," He muttered. Akira still held his hand, which felt somewhat nice but also weird.

"To answer your question..." There was an unusual uncertainty in Akira's voice, something Linus had never experienced from him before. "Shinigami kill people to survive themselves..."

Linus swallowed. He somehow wasn't prepared for such a statement, even though he had just asked so insistently about it.

"They steal the remaining life span of those they kill... It's cruel." It almost sounded like Akira was ashamed of it. Linus felt like he had to say something now, to reassure him or take the blame off him, but he couldn't. He simply wasn't able to.

Now it was silent. Both were silent. Linus felt Akira's pulse rise—how restless he became. Again he felt like he had to say something—comfort him. And then Linus said something he would regret.

"So, they're nothing but killing machines…?" The words came out murmured from him, and before he realized what he had said, it was already too late. He immediately saw as Akira's composure cracked, visibly shaking him.

He could literally feel how much that statement hurt him. He felt it as clearly as if the accusation had been directed at himself.

"B-but you're not one of them anymore!" Linus tried to salvage the statement and sought reassurance in Akira's eyes, those lively eyes that had always shone so brightly. But there was no light anymore. It was replaced with sadness.

In this moment, Linus hated himself.

'They're just killing machines,' for real?! How could he say something so stupid and unfeeling?!

Again, he stuttered out, "Y-you're a human now, like me!" Akira only nodded weakly but said nothing.

This time they remained silent for a longer time.

After a while, Akira spoke again. "Somewhere along the line, I started to feel emotions… emotions Shinigami aren't supposed to have... the people I killed... somehow, I started to feel sorry for them." His voice trembled.

Linus didn't recognize him at all, the always cheerful, laughing Akira he had thought him to be. He tried to imagine what it must have been like to be in his shoes, but it horrified him immediately. It must've been terrible. Lonely.