Standing before his apartment door, Jurou fumbled with his keys. It suddenly occurred to him that in his rush to make it to the café, he had forgotten to lock the door.

“You’re back,” A soft voice floated towards Jurou. “I noticed you had left your door open and closed it for you.”

He recognised the voice; it was his neighbour and, as with all the residents of the company owned shataku, his colleague.

He turned towards her, “Ah, Hana, thank you.”

“Were you late for an interview? I heard what happened at your branch…” She continued, her concern stressed in her voice. Finally noticing his attire and remembering that it was the weekend, she tilted her head. “…or was it a date?”

He let out a nervous laugh, “N-no, nothing like that. It’s just…been a strange few days.”

“Are they kicking you out?”

He hadn’t thought about it, after all, if he was no longer an employee, how could he continue to live at the company’s apartment complex?

Ugh, who cares? Jurou heard his own voice sound internally.

“I imagine so.” He finally said in response.

After a brief exchange with his kind neighbour, Jurou entered his apartment.

Something was amiss.

It took all of 2 seconds to locate the problem; it was the lanky figure sitting on the beige couch, watching TV and laughing away.

Jurou sighed, reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone and dialled 110.

“I wouldn’t do that.” Sol warned; who then turned his attention back to the TV and continued laughing.

Jurou’s finger hovered above the call icon, looking towards Sol, he responded;

“This should be good…”

Still enjoying the TV, Sol started;

“I have clearly to help you.”

“-Clearly.”

“I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t need me to be.”

“And, what, exactly would I need your help with?”

The long, pointed index finger gloved in white latex slowly rose gesturing towards a notepad on the low table in the middle of the living room.

Jurou pocketed his phone and warily approached,

“How did you- how could you have known…”

“I see everything you see, I know everything you know – and even everything you don’t know.”

“…are you…”

“Yes, I am-“

“A demon?”

“Eh?”

“Have you come for my soul?”

“What?”

“You’re a bit early-“

“I’m NOT a demon! If anything I’m more like a guardian angel.”

Jurou raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“Shinigami? No, you look more like ‘Slender Man’-”

“Slender Ma-, fine! I’ll just have to show you!”

Sol slowly rose, towering over Jurou;

“Let’s begin.”

Jurou kneeled at his low table with a pen in hand and stared at the lined, yellow notepad page – behind him, a grumpy giant loomed.

The pen dangled above the page as Jurou contemplated his deepest desires. He thought many thoughts.

I don’t want to seem like a megalomaniac.

Is this desire even possible?

What will she think if I wrote that?

Isn’t that a little too simple?

“JUST WRITE!” the impatient giant finally bellowed out, breaking the spell.

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“Eh? But-“

“You hold yourself back, why? You restrict yourself, to what end? You fill yourself with doubts, for what purpose? What is there to consider anymore? What is there to fear?

Just. Write.”

Jurou looked at the blank page, took a breath and placed the pen on the paper.

‘Kuroko Jurou’s List for the Living:’

‘Quit Job.’ Was the first entry, he marked it with a tick.

“You can do better than that…” Sol jeered.

‘Visit the Beach.’

“Not bad.” Sol intervened again.

‘Visit the Zoo.’

“Think bigger! C’mon, what does your heart desire?”

‘Go Camping.’

“Bigger…”

‘Ice Skating.’

“Bigger!”

‘Snowboarding.’

“BIGGER!”

‘Conquer the World.’

“Well, okay, maybe not that big.”

But Sol’s words landed on deaf ears. Jurou’s pen flew across the page, lost in a world of dreams and desires, he scribbled away endlessly. -Suddenly, Jurou jolted to a halt.

“Huh? What is it?” Sol asked, leaning over Jurou’s shoulder to peer at the list. Jurou had stopped at the 17th item of the list.

Once again, the pen hovered inches from the paper.

It moved! Jurou scribbled a few strokes then stopped again.

Finally understanding what Jurou was writing, Sol perked up and loomed over Jurou’s shoulder.

Jurou swallowed. A single drop of sweat slid down the Sol’s mask. Jurou reached beside him for a glass of water to quench his thirst, found nothing but air and returned his hand to his side.

Both men paused, staring at the page.

A moment passed.

“Do it.” Sol whispered.

Without wasting a split second, the pen struck the paper and inked the sentence both men had been anticipating. Feeling relieved, Jurou continued to fill the page with his desires.

When the sun rose, Jurou awakened inches away from one of the short legs of the low table; Sol was gone, only the list remained.

Many items were crossed off, rewritten and combined. When it was all said and done, there were 27 items; 27 items for the 27 year old man.

This list is…honest. Jurou thought, staring intensely at the A4 yellow sheet of paper.

Perhaps he really did help; I would never have been able to think of half of these on my own. No, more like, I would not have had the confidence to try these things…especially no.17.

Having a moment of self doubt, he grabbed the pen and looked at the page.

No. There’s no point in turning back now, I am a man after all. Yes, there are things only men can do!

The smell of cigarettes and spilled alcohol still loomed on the empty deck of the ‘Ketsugetsu’ izakaya. Jurou sat in the booth beside the deck holding his list in trembling hands. In front of him, a grinning Niko sat, barely able to contain her excitement.

A week had passed before Jurou had mustered the courage to arrange a meeting.

“Okay, remember, this is just a-a-a-an ideal list. I probably won’t be able to do all of these- you know, now that I think about it, maybe I don’t want to do some of these-“

“Just give it to me already, the wait is killing me!” Niko responded, ignoring Jurou’s hesitation.

He folded the page in half and handed it to her with both hands. She took it and opened it up.

She read silently. He watched her eyes scanning the page; her expression gave no clues as to how she felt.

“I feel so exposed, ha-ha…” Jurou said feebly, trying to fill the awkward silence.

There was no response.

I wonder if she’s seen it yet? Jurou’s inner voice began, filling him with doubt once more.

From behind the yellow page, a single eyebrow lifted.

She saw it! –No, I can’t be certain…

From behind the yellow page, Niko’s eyes rose to meet his.

She chuckled.

SHE DEFINITELY SAW IT!

Jurou spiralled down an abyss of thoughts filled with regret and embarrassment, every thought more negative than the last until finally she was slapped back into reality with a thud!

“I’ve got it!” Niko shouted, slamming the table with her palm.

“G-got what?”

“A way to do the first adventure.”

“You’re still on the first one?!”

This girl is bad for my heart… a deflated Jurou thought.

The next few minutes were excruciating for Jurou as Niko digested the remaining 26 points.

“You really are a boy aren’t you?” Niko finally said, still holding the sheet of paper.

“W-what’s that supposed to mean?”

“This is like a young boy’s dream list. Well, almost…”

“Almost?”

“Number 17 is a little…”

“T-T-There are things only a man can d-“

“Okay.” Niko interrupted still looking at the page. “We can do all of these, it will be a little difficult but we can manage it.”

“Y-You’re going to help me with all of them?”

“Yes…”

A sneaky grin crept across her pink lips and with a chortle she continued;

“…all of them.”