The One Who Didn’t Understand Shit… And Was Sleepy.

For two hardworking individuals like Tadashi's parents, bedtime was sacred. Not only did they work together — they had first met at work.

Overtime was their middle name, and I think that's why they got along so well. Tadashi never saw either of them complain about spending entire weekends filling out reports. In addition, they were very lenient, giving their children almost unrestricted freedom, requiring only that they didn’t skip school… and, of course, never wake them up!

Unfortunately, a mixture of the supernatural and hormones had ended up disrupting the family's peaceful daily routine.

“Geez, what's gotten into you two today? If it weren't such an unusual day, we would punish you both!” said Tadashi's mother, her hair so messy that she could be mistaken for a Saiyan.

“Uh-huh... zzzzzzz” The agreement ended in a deep, loud snore. The father slept standing up with his arms crossed.

“Honey...” The mother calmly brought her lips close to her husband's ear. “WAKE UP!”

A primal roar came out of the mother's mouth. Her husband's ears were invaded, and the response could not be otherwise:

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH,” the father screamed in fright, yet still not coming close to the mother's scream.

The father adjusted his glasses, tears running down his cheeks. Speechless, the father set out to just listen to his wife.

“Listen, everyone,” warned the head of the household, her finger pointing upward. "Everyone in the house screamed today! The noise quota has exceeded its limit. Your father and I have an important meeting tomorrow at work. So if I hear any noise, there will be trouble!"

“Uh-huh,” all four of us (yes, even me) agreed.

What a threatening woman…

Everyone said goodbye, but before he could go to his room, Tadashi's arm was grabbed.

“Son... Are you sure you're okay?” The mother asked, running her hand over Tadashi's scratched cheek. “I feel like you want to tell me something.”

Her maternal instincts were correct. Tadashi was thinking of talking about... me?

"We are worried about you. If it had happened to me, I would have shit myself out of fear. There wouldn't be a white spot left on my underwear..." The mother interrupted the father's ramblings with an angry look.

Both of Tadashi’s parents were there for him, but it felt like a voice was echoing in his head, keeping him from speaking.

Don't talk about Death to them. They'll think you're crazy, the voice repeated incessantly.

Tadashi closed his eyes, trying to concentrate until:

“Shut up, I get it. Swoosh!” Tadashi whispered, disguising his words as a sneeze.

“They'll think you're crazy... Oh, my bad,” I said.

Yeah…Maybe it wasn't exactly a voice in his head, after all.

“It's nothing, I just have insomnia,” Tadashi replied.

"Okay, but put on your pajamas and at least try to lie down,” said the mother.

After exchanging good nights, the two parents leaned on each other as they made their way to their bedroom. BOOM. A tremendous crashing sound echoed throughout the house. They literally collapsed onto the bed.

“Try not to scream again... Good night, Onii-chan!” For a few seconds, Tadashi felt a kind of affection in his sister's voice. The feeling didn't last long, as seconds later, she made the worst face possible while extending her middle finger, slamming the door in Tadashi's face.

Back in his room, we were finally allowed to talk again.

“Your family is pretty loud, isn't it?”

“Not at all, we hardly talk to each other,” said Tadashi, lying down on the bed. “Fights are a disgrace. All those lights irritate me.”

I had already noticed that his Third Eye was accurate, but that accurate?

“So you can see the vibrations of souls, even inside bodies? Wow, even without any training… Impressive! Wait — what are you doing!?”

“Let's call it a test. If you still exist tomorrow, it means I'm not crazy,” whispered Tadashi, covering himself.

“Hey, come on, buddy? Aren't you curious to hear the details of my plan?”

Damn, this shinigami is really annoying for just a hallucination, he thought.

“Hey, I'm not a Shinigami! Much less a hallucination.”

“Not a hallucination? You can even hear my thoughts!” Tadashi began to raise his voice but quickly returned to whispering.

"You have talent, but I have an eye trained for 10,000 years. The vibrations you see, I can interpret them very well. I've been watching you for a long time to decide if you deserve my attention. I've seen every dirty thought you've had."

Tadashi swallowed hard, speechless.

“If you don't pay attention to me, I'll leak all your logins and passwords at your school. Even the ones for suspicious websites. It won't even be difficult, you use the same password for everything.”

“Hey, let's not escalate the situation...” Tadashi's voice trembled. 

"Ha... That’s on you, bro. I’m not the one using D@nut01 as a password. And seriously, replacing the 'o' with '@'? Still trash. I mean, if it were the 'a', I’d get it. But the 'o'? What were you thinking?"

“Okay, I get it, you know the password. Look, even if I wanted to talk to you, I couldn't. If I make a sound, I'm dead. And let's just say, it's not exactly easy to talk to you without shouting.”

“Well, if that's the case…”

— — —

We had been sitting for a few hours in the bookstore near Tadashi's house. He wasn't very excited when I threw him out of his bedroom window. I mean, it was only six stories high, but it was enough to convince him that I wasn't a hallucination. We arrived so quickly on my flying scythe that Tadashi didn't even have time to get motion sickness.

“Are you sure we can stay here?” asked Tadashi, afraid to enter the store.

“Of course, I've spent many nights here. Just don't make a mess and everything should be fine.”

Yeah… We literally messed up. We were supposed to talk about my plans, but as soon as I picked up a novel to illustrate an idea, we couldn't stop.

Did you read that moment in volume 3? Hey, there's a really good drawing in this one! This book here is awful, don't even waste your time. Before we knew it, the place was a mess.

We were both sitting on the floor, surrounded by piles of light novels.

“Wow, we must be talking for hours! Who would have thought that my first satisfying conversation about 'The Chronicles of Zero' would be with... you know, Death,” said Tadashi, trying not to sound prejudiced.

"It's okay. I know what you mean. People confuse Death with the suffering it causes. In the end, I'm just one of them,” I looked out the window, creating a mysterious atmosphere. “It's nice to talk about what I read. Entities are all about power and control, but they don't appreciate the little things."

"Are entities like you? Like, each one with their own theme?"

"Yeah, but it's not the kind of thing I can reveal widely. What I can say is that seeing everything from above makes you lose perspective; humans look like ants. No matter what kind of entities they are: those who think they are gods or others who sound more like curses, they are all self-centered."

Tadashi reflected for a few seconds, even though he was so young, he was there trying to absorb as much as possible without losing his composure.

“Tell me, how did you come to that conclusion? You know, I thought that a Shinigami... I mean, that Death would be colder,” Tadashi approached, whispering, as if it were a private question.

“Well, I wasn't always as enlightened as I am now....”

Flashes of the past surrounded my thoughts:

Hovering above the battle, I opened my arms laughing, sensing all the energy of the souls I had reaped. The cry of the advancing troops with their swords, the blood spilling across the battlefield, the suffering inherent in every drop of sweat and tear shed. The sudden rush of energy gave me a taste of what it would be like to have a heartbeat in my chest.

“Let's just say I was an edgy teenager. But things changed when someone like you showed up!”

“A third-eye user?” asked Tadashi.

"Yes, he was great warrior and storyteller. It was impressive how his voice transformed into birdsong and the clanging of weapons. He told me about the great epics of humanity. The one who made me fall in love with human creativity."

“Great warrior? Heh...”

From a great warrior to a malnourished boy? Now even I feel disappointed, thought Tadashi.

“Yes, a great warrior. For him, there were no ambushes — especially not in bushes! Hahaha!"

...

I continued talking, ignoring the awkward silence.

"A dark forest was completely illuminated for him; he could see the souls of his enemies from miles away. He dodged any attack by sensing the vibrations of his enemies. A true warrior... but time takes them all."

"Damn... I can use my power in combat? It would have been nice to know that before..." In Tadashi's mind, the club president's cries rang like a tolling bell. 

"Of course you can. He was special, but your raw talent is much greater than his."

“It's like a dream, I've always wanted to have power like a protagonist,” Tadashi lay down on the floor, a light novel resting on his chest. "No one ever believed me when I told them about the lights. I just convinced myself they didn’t exist. Little by little, they simply vanished. Sometimes I’d catch a glimpse of them again, but I’d just turn away and pretend nothing was happening.."

"See! That's what I'm saying, it shouldn't be like this. A power like yours should be cultivated, not denied. You deserve a fresh start, a complete makeover!"

I took a blue flame out of my pocket — a pulsating soul, or rather, a visual representation of one.

"Greek plays, sacred tomes, music of all kinds, I consumed everything until I arrived at theater and cinema. I was in America, in the golden age and Hollywood, but I wanted something more... fresh. The Japan I knew was very different. Here I found isekais, that hooked me with the idea of a new beginning."

Tadashi approached the soul, his fingers almost touching the blue waves.

“I've seen a light like this before, but it wasn't so bright.”

"Dead spirits — That must have been what you saw. Their light is not dazzling because most of their energy has already faded away. A light as bright as this can only be found inside a body."

All the light novels rose floating from the ground, becoming a vortex. The two of us were the eye of the hurricane, the spiritual flame separating us.

I know, I'm very talented at creating cool scenes, aren't I?

The books passed by us, some coming into my hand:

“Going to another world, entering a game or book: It's all impossible, however,” I picked up 'The Chronicles of Zero', showing its cool cover. "Reincarnating in a new world is partially possible. There are no other worlds for our sadness, but there are other realities of life! After years of reverse engineering souls, I know how to send memories to a new body."

I dropped the book, which returned to the vortex.

“It’s a good plan, but everything becomes impossible without a contract. A soul must volunteer to be in my hands. The first and foremost rule of entities is not to break human free will.”

“That's why you chose me. In a contract, both sides need to see each other...” Tadashi had finally understood. “But what would you do with my soul?”

“I would return it to a primitive state, something like a hibernation state, until it arrived in the new body. My service would only cost one thing: take me as a passenger on the journey. I want to feel what it's like to be in a body.”

I manipulated the illustrative soul by injecting it with my finger with a dirty green fire, which was spread and consumed by the flame.

“So it would be like a Dragon Ball fusion?”

That's an... interesting way to put it.

“No. The souls of entities and humans are like water and oil. They don't mix.”

“Then what? You control the legs and I control the arms?”

“Hahahaha... That would be funny, but also no. I’m going to be a spectator. One that can feel everything you feel. I think, at least...I mean, I guess...Maybe...You know, never mind.”

Tadashi stared at me with some doubt. 

It was already morning, Tadashi yawned and stretched his arms.

"Look, honestly, I'm exhausted. I don't know what to say, but I really think that even though we like so many similar things, it's for different reasons. I don't need a new body... a restart. I don't hate my existence to this point... but today was so strange that I feel like I can’t think properly. I need to sleep." Tadashi said, his voice turning into a yawn

I sighed.

“I understand, so at least think about it. I'm immortal, so time isn't a problem. Guess I’ll just kill some time.” I looked at him directly, the black void of my lack of eyes expanding. You're going to laugh, you son of a bitch.

“Haha... sure.” Tadashi scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed.

YEAHHHHHHHHH! A THREE-POINTER! LET’S GO!

“Huh... and thanks for saving my life. I don’t think I thanked you.”

“No problem. I mean, you're going to die sooner or later... Sorry about that.” Just by seeing his reaction I've already decided to apologize.

Back at his house, we parted our ways. He was alone for the first time in some months. Taking a deep breath, the boy lay down on the bed and... I don’t know. Didn't you read? I left him alone... how would I know what he was doing?

But a few seconds after I left, I heard a loud alarm clock followed by this:

“WHAT THE HELL!” shouted Tadashi.