Trigger Warnings: Death - Tumblr Posts

Osomatsu - A Promise I'll Break

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳!𝘖𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶 𝘟 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

"What do you think of death?"

The question was very sudden and out of the blue. You snapped your head over to the man beside you, sat casually in his seat with a steaming coffee mug in hand. His eyes, glowing a vibrant green, stared inquisitively at your tense figure as he sipped at his beverage, the skeletal mask that covered his lower face removing itself eerily.

"I...I'm not sure what you mean.." It was the truth. With a being like him asking a question like that, there could be a few dark undertones that you wished not to uncover.

"Well, y'know.." he gestured lazily with his free hand, black mist swirling around him in an unearthly manner. He didn't belong here. "A lot of people seem like their scared of death, finding it to be a horrifying journey that the naked eye can't witness.." he chuckled at that, allowing a shiver to run up your spine, "But sometimes, people see it as a blessing, in a way. A person's spirit can finally leave this world in peace."

He turned his gaze back to you.

"So, what do you think of it?"

You stared adamantly down at your own clear drink. Your fingers were enlarged under the water's image, pressing tightly against the glass. Small bubbles of air filtered around the liquid, rising to the top before bursting all to quickly.

"I'm not sure, sir.. It is true that it can be.. terrifying, staring death in the eyes," you shuddered again, "But I do have hope that there is something waiting for us.. A happier place, maybe."

The man hummed, leaning his head back to the stair at the ceiling, his brown hair flopping back over his scalp. Suddenly, he sat up straight, pointing at you.

"I told you to stop calling me 'sir!" You jolted, carefully manoeuvring your glass so that your water wouldn't spill. "C'mon, what do I have to do to at least get you to call me by my name? It's not hard! Say it with me: O-so-ma-tsu!"

With him being who he was, you would have thought that he would act more mature —wise, even — but he had no such personality traits. He instead acted like a man child in desperate need for attention, specifically from you. You hated it, because it meant you had to see him more often around your workplace, which only served to unnerve you. And he was either oblivious to this, or chose to purposefully ignore it.

You glanced over to the clock, eyes lighting up at the time. You swiftly stood up after swallowing down your glass of water, grabbing your coat and bag from the coatrack.

"You're leaving?" he frowned, swivelling in his chair to watch you. You barely spared him a look, unable to force yourself to stare back into those gleaming green eyes.

"Yes, my shift is over for today."

"Ah, I see... But don't forget!" he called after you before you could leave the room. "We have 'graveyard' shift tomorrow!" he grinned, watching you tense up at the shoulders.

You were outside the room now, facing the empty hallway, except it wasn't empty. Ghostly figures slipped past you every now and then, there skin and clothing wafting through the air like silk, although it wouldn't feel like the material at all, should you touch it. You knew that first hand.

"Safe travels, [Y/N]." was the last words you heard from him that night as you shut the door behind you, clutching at your bag tightly as you wove your way through the hauntingly empty corridors. All you wanted to do was go home.

»»-----　♔　-----««

The air was colder than you had anticipated, your fingers and face feeling numb to the cool night air. You sighed heavily as you finally made it inside the hospital, quickly making your way over to the staff room, where you knew he would be waiting oh-so eagerly for you.

As you turned down a hallway, you came to a sudden stop, barely preventing yourself from crashing into another nurse turning the same corner. You both jumped back with a noise of surprise, wide eyes regarding one another before relaxing.

"Oh, hey [Y/N]," the nurse chuckled, holding a hand to her chest. "You're on duty now?"

You gave no response, staring at something over her shoulder. She raised a brow as all colour seemed to drain itself from your face. "..[Y/N]..? Is everything okay?" she turned her head over her shoulder, frowning as she found nothing there.

But of course she wouldn't see anything. She wasn't born with this curse. She should be grateful, to not be able to see the decaying face of a remaining spirit, hovering over her with its jaw unhinged and eyes filled with nothing but darkness. You bit back the urge to vomit as it raised a rotting hand, shoving its jaw back into place with a sickening crack.

"Uh... Maybe you should get some water. I'll.. see you tomorrow, [Y/N]." The nurse left you quickly, and you knew she was looking back at you with odd glances. She would probably go and tell everyone else what had happened. You could practically hear the conversation already:

'That new girl is so weird, staring at nothing! It's like she's seeing things! She should get herself checked out, maybe she's not all good up there.'

"[Y/N]?"

You jumped, whipping around to find Osomatsu staring at you blankly. His cape-like jacket flowed behind him as he came closer to you, stopping just in front of you. His eyes flickered over your shoulder before returning to you as he tilted his head.

"You good? You were kinda just standing there."

You stammered for a moment, turning to look behind you and, to no surprise of your own, finding no spirit floating there like it was before. You sighed quietly, feeling a headache already coming on.

"I'm.. fine."

"..Good!" he smiled, walking past you with a beckon of his hand, " 'Cuz we have a lot of paperwork to get through and pass out, so let's not waste any time, yeah?"

Of course he wouldn't actually care for your wellbeing. With a twitch of your eye, you begrudgingly followed behind him, keeping your head low and ignoring the want to cover your ears to block out the ugly groans and wails of those others couldn't see. You wished you could be like them.

As soon as you sat down in that swivelling office chair, you willed your mind to switch onto autopilot, wanting to zone out the rest of the night as much as you could and get lost in your work. It would be easier to deal with the terrible hours you were having to endure. But no matter how hard you tried, this particular night seemed to want you completely aware of everything that was going on around you.

You were constantly jumping in your seat as spirit after spirit wandered in and out of the room, their whispering calls and cries for their loved ones ringing in your ears for minutes on end. The temperature in the room seemed to drop lower than room temperature, making you shiver. Not even the steaming mug of coffee beside you warmed you up.

And then, there was Osomatsu, who was supposed to be helping you, but was instead whining about everything that came to his mind, blabbering on non-stop and even snickering at you whenever you had a scare. It irritated you greatly, but you were also afraid. You couldn't exactly say anything back to him — not if you wanted your life ripped from you in the blink of an eye.

Just when you thought you had just about enough of it all, he spoke to you in a more serious tone.

"Y'know, I've heard some things about you."

You froze in your seat. You knew where this was going. This was the absolute last thing you had wanted.

"Well, I heard stuff about you before you even started working here. Word spreads real fast, don't you think?"

You grip on the computer mouse tightened. You needed him to stop. Talking.

"But you know how rumours are. You can't exactly trust them, seeing as how everyone just ends up twisting them to match their own ideals. So I figured I'd just ask you directly — makes things easier."

There was a moments silence, the sound of a chair squeaking beside you as he leaned forward in his seat becoming deafeningly loud in the quiet space.

"I heard that you working here has made it your fourth transfer this month."

"How did you—?"

"They say," he cut you off, cat green eyes locking onto your own coloured orbs as you turned towards him, "That it's because you say you're seeing things. Someone even said it's because you weren't deemed 'suitable' to work at a couple other hospitals. The things that you say you've seen... aren't exactly kid friendly, are they?"

You bit down on your lip hard. His lower face was obscured by that mask again, with its skeletal jaw and raw bone outlining the glow of his eyes dangerously as he grinned, as if he had struck gold. The scythe he always carried was resting across his lap, glinting under the light, a reminder of just how close death was to you.

"I.." Your voice wavered, hesitant to tell the truth, but you knew deep down that he probably already knew it, for a lot longer than you thought he did.

"It's not.. my fault.." you sighed, lowering your face into your hands and digging the heels of your palms into your eyes in a poor attempt to keep your tears at bay, the stress now catching up to you, "I don't want to see these.. these things all the time, but they won't go away.. they're everywhere.."

"What do you see?"

"...I see things like you." Your heart began to pick up speed as it thrummed in your ears, close to bursting as you finally plucked up the courage to speak.

"Things — no, people, that aren't alive anymore. Spirits, spectres, ghosts, whatever you want to call them. And —... And reapers, like you," You shuddered, "I can see it all. Wherever I go, they're always following me.."

Osomatsu still hadn't given you a response, and your worry spiked. You didn't want to open your eyes to witness another angry reaper, ready to chase you out of another job. The last one had almost caught you. You couldn't go through that again.

"I know who you really are, Matsuno," you still refrained from using his 'real' name, "But I swear, I'm not here to get in your way! I'm just here to do my job as a nurse, I want to help people! I don't.. I don't mean to disturb you. So, please... Please don't try to get rid of me. I really need this job.."

"Why would I try to get rid of you?"

You paused.

"The last reaper I ran into.. didn't like me all too much.." you grimaced at the memory. "He thought I was trying to save the souls he had to reap, and he chased me away from the hospital. I can't go back there, even if I wanted to.."

Osomatsu chuckled softly.

"Sounds like little Ichimatsu, alright.." he mumbled to himself, whilst you were too busy staring at him, bewildered that he had just laughed at you. Was this all a joke to him? You really hoped it wasn't.

He leaned back in his seat again, resting his arms behind his head in a relaxed position. Grinning at you, you watched as his mask and dark clothing slowly dissolved away, revealing the usual male nurse uniform that others had always seen, and you had rarely seen on him.

"I had a feeling you were an odd one," he hummed. "Ever since you stepped foot in this place, these old wisps have been gravitating towards you like a magnet."

"I'm sorry," you blurted. "They always seem to attach to me. I don't mean for it to happen—"

"I know, you don't need to start blubbering over it," he raised a hand. "If anything, you always want to just get away from them, and that's enough for me to know that you're not gonna ruin my own little gig I got here, too. So, how about we strike a small deal?"

He held out a gloved hand, still keeping that cattish smile plastered over his lips. You cocked a brow, suspiciously eyeing his outstretched palm.

"You promise to me that you won't get in the way of my 'work'," he used his free hand to make quote marks over the word, "and I'll promise not to mess with you either. Deal?"

"...It's not just you who messes with me here," you reminded him, just in time to catch another spirit wander into the room. It stared at you blankly for a moment, hollow eyes staring deep into your soul, then shifted over to Osomatsu before leaving again.

"Fine," he rolled his eyes as he groaned. "I'll make sure neither I nor the other spirits in this place mess with you. Is that better?"

Something deep in the back of your mind was screaming that it wasn't better. Trusting a reaper of all things was a bad idea, and making a deal with one was even worse. But, as you stared into his gleaming eyes, what choice did you have?

"..Just peachy.." you slipped your hand into his, the cold of his flesh seeping into your warm palm as he shook it twice firmly, his smile widening and showing off his shrunken fangs.

"Y'know, I have a feeling things are gonna get a little more interesting around here, now." You grimaced, snatching your hand away from him.

"I hope not."

"Ugh, you humans are all so boring.." he whined. You ignored him, turning back to your computer. As much as you hated admitting it to yourself, you couldn't deny that the weight on your shoulders had lightened just a small bit, enough for you to breath without having that constricting feeling in your chest.

»»-----　♔　-----««

Osomatsu should have known something was wrong.

A smooth four months had sailed by since your deal, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying your presence more and more as the days went by.

The one day where you didn't come in for work, though, he shrugged it off. Even when he had overheard that you hadn't called in to give any reasoning behind your absence, he didn't think too much of it. Humans were weak things compared to him, after all; if you needed a break, then he wouldn't dwell on it any longer.

That single day turned into two days. Then those two days turned into three days. Then those three days turned into three weeks.

Osomatsu grew more agitated by the day. His mood was visibly worsening, snapping at anyone when they would tell him they didn't know where you were. He didn't understand why he felt that way. He didn't know why he suddenly felt so angry at the fact that he didn't know where you were. The deep pit in his stomach was telling him that something bad had happened. He should be worried.

But why should he be worried? You were a human. You were weaker than him, had less of a lifespan than him, so what if you could see spirits and random shit like he could? He was a reaper, an all powerful being that could suck the soul out of your body with a single tap of his scythe. Why should he care about what's happened to you?

He shoved those feelings deep into the back of his mind, attempting to erase them as quickly as he could. He didn't need these insignificant feelings getting in the way of his work.

It wasn't enough, though.

No one had expected to see you come into his hospital room, wrapped in numerous bandages and heavy casts on your right arm and leg. Your bruised eyes were shut closed as a small patch of stitching made itself clear on your left brow, your breathing deep as if you were simply sleeping, but he knew it was so much more than that.

Just one look, and all those feelings came bursting to the forefront of Osomatsu's mind as he stared at you in bewilderment.

"She came in last night," someone was telling him, but he wasn't focusing on them. "She was taken from her home about a month ago, and was beaten pretty brutally. We're still trying to figure out why and how this has happened, but until she's feeling well enough, she'll be under your care, Matsuno."

Whoever was speaking to him left the room not soon after, leaving you and Osomatsu alone. He was still staring at your battered form, eyes shifting from a muddy brown to a fluorescent green as he eyed the glow around your body. It was flickering, significantly dimmer than the last time he had seen you —back then, you were glowing.

His black clothing slipped itself over his uniform like a shadow, a hood falling low over his forehead as his mask settled onto his lower jaw, lips pressed into a firm line as he grasped his scythe. Stepping towards you, he hovered his scythe over your heart for a moment before shifting the sharpened tip to your temple, tapping it once as the bright hospital room fell away into darkness.

»»-----　♔　-----««

You stared down at the flowing white dress that had draped itself over you. Rubbing the material between your fingertips, you barely acknowledged how soft it felt before letting it fall to your side with a sigh.

The luminosity of your dress was the only thing to stand out in this darkness that surrounded you. You felt as if you had walked in circles trying to figure out where you were, only to realise that you weren't moving at all. It was a perpetual loop, never ending, never beginning.

You sat yourself on the solid ground beneath you, tucking your legs close to your chest as you rested your chin on your knees, arms wrapping around yourself in a feeble attempt at comfort.

You knew what this all meant. Your end was coming soon, and all you could do was wait for that end to come for you. You began to wonder who would come to take you, and a brief image of a familiar face came to mind before you waved it away.

Having him see you as you were now — feeble and vulnerable — was nothing short of humiliating for you. On top of that, you really didn't want his face to be the last thing you would see before you... left. It would only make things harder.

You didn't know if time existed wherever you were, but you felt as if you had sat there for a lifetime, occupying yourself by tracing over the scattered bruises over your exposed arms from your dress. You couldn't feel the pain, but you knew it was there. How long had you endured all of that for? You lost track of the days a long time ago.

The sound of footfalls echoing around you in the vast blank space made you perk up. Not seeing anything to your left or right, you turned around, hand pressing to the cool floor as your breath caught in your throat.

"Had a feeling I would find you here," Osomatsu jested as he stood casually before you, leaning against the mantle of his scythe with his free hand resting in his pocket.

"Are you here to.. take me away?" Your quiet voice amplified itself in the silence, reaching his ears easily. He seemed to contemplate this question, eyes squinting as he peered at you, taking steps towards you before he knelt down in front of you.

"It is my job to do so, but right now..?" He ran a hand through his hair under his hood, chuckling weakly, "I don't know."

You lowered your head, unable to look him in the eyes, now for many different reasons. You flinched at the feeling of his fingers pressing under your chin, lifting your face up to look at him once more as he scrutinised the markings on your face. It became unsettling to watch his face fall blank, a slate of no emotion whilst he gazed at you.

"..I've heard different rumours this time," quoting himself from all this months ago. How you wished to go back to those times. At least it was easier to live than it was now. "Somebody took you, and somebody hurt you." He traced his index finger up, over the curve of your cheek to the arch of your brow, barely brushing over the cut that had rested there. "Who did this to you?"

"I don't know.. They wanted me for my 'gift'.." you spat the word out with a scowl, "But does it matter?" You looked away from him again. "If you're here to take me away, then hurry up and do it already."

"Why are you so eager to end your life here?" Osomatsu tilted his head.

"Because what else do I have out there?!" You yelled in frustration, tears finally rolling down your heated cheeks. "Even if I live, there's not going to be anything waiting for me! Everything keeps getting worse and worse — I can't take it anymore!"

"And yet you're still here."

"Because you won't reap my soul—!"

"Because you still want to live."

He stood up, reaching for your wrists and pulling you up with him. You stuttered as he pressed your firmly against his chest, his hand forcing you to look into his eyes.

"Do you think I just take whatever soul I want whenever I want to?" He huffed a laugh at you, wiping away a fresh tear with the pad of his thumb. "I take souls who are ready and willing to die. And for you, that's not the case. If you were truly willing to die, I would have taken your soul the minute you were brought into this hospital."

Staring up at him, you found it hard to look away a third time. Even as your vision blurred his features together, you could still point out his eyes. You had never noticed how pretty they were like this, glinting like cut jade, shaped and moulded into perfect orbs.

"I know I made a deal to you," he mumbled, eyes half-lidded as he clutched you closer, "But just this once, let me break it. Let me get you out of here."

"...Will you be there when I wake up?"

He laughed louder this time, the vibration of his voice rumbling through his chest.

"I'll be there for as long as you need. Or until you get sick of me."

You let out a watery giggle. You were sure that you were past that stage.

It was odd. A mere few months ago, you had despised being in the presence of this reaper. Yet now, you were clutching onto him tighter than ever as you nodded along to his proposal, wanting nothing more than to drown yourself in his comfort as you found yourself in a hospital room, blinking up at the ceiling.