"Leslie"

I entered my new apartment room hauling two large moving boxes. It was a small room, but the sunlight through the window brightened everything. I dropped the boxes at the doorway and dashed to take in the view of the street by the open window. My long pink hair blew in the wind.

“Um, Elira-san, you can’t just leave the boxes here. No one can walk through if you do.” Leslie chuckled awkwardly, as he stood there holding my other 3 boxes and unable to pass through the front door.

I skipped over to clear the way for him, smiling brightly. “Sorry, I’m just so happy to be at my new place. And I’ve got such a kind neighbor.”

Leslie softly blushed, placing the boxes down and covering his goofy smile with one hand. “U- uh, I’m-”

I giggled quickly. “You’re stuttering, Leslie-san.”

He cleared his throat and hid his blush. “A- anyways. I’ll get going. If you need anything, just text me.” He handed me a slip of paper from his pocket. “Here’s my number. Glad to have you, Elira-san, new neighbor.”

I walked him out, smiling warmly. Once he was gone, I stared down at the paper with his number and a smirk plastered across my face. A new victim.

I am the God Of Death, Thanatos, but known as Elira in this world. I’ve got a job to do. And Leslie was going to help me with it.

By 5:00 PM, dusk was approaching. I settled nicely in my new home, and plopped myself on the bed to finally text Leslie.

“Hey, Leslie-san~” I texted, adding a bit of flirt behind the message. He read and replied almost immediately.

“Hey! No need to be so formal, call me Leslie. What’s up?” I could hear through the phone how happy he was to text me. He was making my job so much easier for me, I was seducing him by barely trying.

We’re making progress. I’ll have him dead soon. “Ok then. Leslie, wanna go out for drinks tonight? As a moving-in celebration!” I text, already knowing he’d accept.

As expected, he replied that he would come. We’d be drinking at a bar near our apartment.

I entered the bar wearing a black knee-length skirt and hoodie. Scanning the place, I spotted Leslie and sat with him. He looked so excited to see me, and smiled keenly.

“Hey, you’re just on time.” As I sat beside him, he slid a glass of alcohol in front of me. “Try it, it’s the best here.”

Being the God Of Death, I can’t get drunk, but I had to play along. I sipped the drink and groaned in delight. “God, this is delicious!”

Leslie sipped his own drink and sighed in pleasure. “Right?? And our apartment is right across the street, so we can drink our heads off!!” And that’s exactly what we did. Well, more accurately, what he did, since I can’t get drunk like I mentioned.

45 minutes passed when Leslie started feeling tipsy, so I acted like it too. He started rambling on about nonsense. But in the middle of his blathering, something he said caught my ear. “Elira, have you ever felt so horrible you wanted to die?”

This was it. I needed to latch onto this idea of his and ring it out of him like a towel.

I slumped onto the bar counter as if I was drunk and slurred my words. “Y- yeah, sooo many times!! Did you know, I’ve attempted suicide 4 times already?”

Leslie hiccupped and gasped a gasp that sounded fake, but really, he’s just extremely intoxicated. “No way! E- Elira, what’s wrong?? I’m here for you, d- don’t worry!!”

“Of course, thanks soo much, Leslie~ What about you? Any suicide thoughts?” I laugh like a psycho, hoping that I actually seemed drunk.

Leslie rested his heavy head on his arm and sighed. “Yeah, especially recently.” Hiccup. “In fact, I’m trying suuuper hard to resist the urge to jump off the apartment, hah.” Hiccup.

Oh my god, he’s so easy.

“Aww, I’m sorry~ Don’t push yourself, ‘kay?” I comforted him while patting his black hair gawkily.

“Of course, thanks soo much, Elira~” He repeated my own words, and we stumbled home together.

About a month has passed since then, and I’m on wonderful terms with Leslie. Sharing our feelings that first night really brought us closer, even though we were drunk (well, only he was.).

I could bring him to his death anytime now. Especially now. A week ago, we had what was basically a therapy session and I learned he was feeling tremendously depressed.

Tonight, we planned to go out for a 6pm dinner, but I invited him to my room first so he could help me pick what to wear.

He sat on the couch as I displayed 2 outfits in each arm. “Which one?” I put on a cute thinking face.

Leslie thought for a moment, eyeing the outfits up and down, until he pointed to one. I nodded in agreement and ran to my room to change.

“You look beautiful, Elira…” Leslie whispered, a red hue creeping up his cheeks as he couldn’t stop staring at me when I came out all pampered up.

My pink hair rippled down more flowingly than ever. The below-knee dress I wore matched the color of my hair and hugged my neck with a ruffled turtleneck collar.

I forced a blush and scoffed, pouting. “Pfttt, Leslie, I don’t look that good.” But he found my actions so cute, he pulled me in by the waist without even thinking.

“No, you do look that good.” His lips were unnaturally close to mine. There was a heat between us that felt weirdly romantic. Our bodies were touching, I could feel his racing heart.

He was probably thinking, “She’s so pretty, I love her so much.” But I was thinking,

“Tonight’s the night. All my acting for this past month has led us here.”

We shared our dinner at a fancy restaurant, which is something we don’t usually do. It even made Leslie wheeze at the price, which I paid for.

“Anything special happen recently?? Why’re we eating at this 5-star Michelin??” Leslie patted his full tummy as we exited the restaurant.

I laughed at his joke, and said, “This place only has 1 Michelin star, Leslie.” Leslie laughed along with me. Then, I took a more serious expression and looked to the floor, fidgeting with my skirt worriedly.

“I just… wanted to do something big for us before I…” My voice trailed off into silence. This is how I reel all my victims in. Luckily, it seemed like Leslie got the hint and twined his fingers with mine.

“Let’s go home, Elira. I’ll make sure you get to bed safely, ok?” His genuine smile felt like a warm hug and we started back to the apartment building together.

Brrrrr. Brrrrr. Brrrrrrrr. The alarm on my phone woke me up at midnight. Why? Because Leslie wouldn’t leave my room until I was completely asleep, and I wouldn’t be able to initiate my plan if he was in here. So I had to actually sleep, and wake up at 12 AM to start my scheme.

Stopping the alarm, I looked out the window. A full moon. A beautiful night to die.

I started sobbing as I sat on my bed. Not because I was literally about to jump off of my apartment, but because I needed my eyes to look red and puffy so that convincing Leslie to join me would be easier.

After I looked like I created a river, I headed to Leslie and I’s LINE chat on my phone, and sent him the infamous triggering word:

“Goodbye.” My plan was in motion.

The floor was cold against my bare feet up the stairs to the rooftop. I climbed behind the fence and stood at the edge, looking over the dark evening lit only by the streetlamps lining the far-down streets, the occasional passing headlights on cars, and the shining light of the moon.

My heart was beating normally, my pink hair and my dress blew peacefully in the breeze. I was so used to this feeling, the exhilarating feeling when I’m about to fly through the night sky just to splat onto the ground in a red puddle.

Only a few minutes passed when I finally heard thumping up the stairs and the door burst open. I hear Leslie panting and I turn my head slowly to look at him. A tear slides down my cheek.

And you know the rest of the story.

Our final moments together, the way Leslie and I embraced as we leaped off the rooftop… I was smiling through all of it.

After all, like I said— I am the God Of Death, Thanatos, but known as Elira in this world. I’ve got a job to do. And Leslie was going to help me with it.