4.

Amane Misa knew more than anyone that everything has a price.

Many people thought that she took everything for granted and she did, to an extent, but-

She wasn't a fool.

With stalkers and obsessive fans like she had, with some of them wishing for things she couldn't give, Misa's life as a supermodel wasn't as carefree as they sell it in the newspapers and magazines.

For all its glitter and glamor, the industry she worked in was filled with people lying with sweet words and powdered smiles as they pull each other down to reach the top.

(She should know.)

(Misa did it too.)

Summed up, her whole experience of the whole shebang could be best described as bile and vomit with tears running down her face, and nights where hunger and loneliness hit particularly hard as she started to wonder if it was even worth it.

If living like this- living with the burden of expectations and stereotypes for fame and wealth was ever worth it.

Her delicate face, her talent in manipulating her image to fit the camera's desires and her privacy, in exchange for-

(A "life" where she had enough money to pay her family's debts, put food in her younger brother's stomach, and a reputation as a blonde airhead that people wanted to fuck.)

(Was it a fair trade?)

(She thought it was. After all, many people had it much harder than she did and even if she couldn't exactly eat right, because Misa you have a shoot tomorrow, do you want to look fat-)

(It was bearable.)

(At least, it used to be, until her parents were killed because of her.)

...

..

.

Fucking everything up, for Misa, was a habit.

It was almost a talent, if you could call it that, but she was stupid and prideful and now, she had nothing left but empty praises from people who didn't know who she was and a job that lost its luster a long time ago.

Her "friends" were right.

Hah.

Stupid Misa. All she had was her pretty face, she couldn't even finish high school right. So incompetent that even if her parents were killed in front of her, the murderer could walk in the streets free because she only had her face and an empty title.

Attempted home robbery, her ass.

The "robber" was a rich second-generation with connections in the government and yakuza. He - a robber?

Who would even believe that?

Of course, it wasn't a home robbery.

It was attempted rape.

(Except, she wasn't touched since her parents got in the way before anything took place so, she got nothing to show for it but faint bruises that faded before they went into court.)

(The lawyer she got said that Misa couldn't exactly complain, because, as far as all the meager evidence that the police had, there was no evidence - no witnesses pointing to that crime except her, and-)

(Maybe, it was her fault? Because, wearing short dresses and skirts meant that she was asking for it, apparently.)

(In the end, it was ruled out that the suspect was falsely accused.)

(The only thing that went right was her younger brother's summer camp so he was spared from the sight.)

(And even that, she almost opposed too, since they just recovered from their financial obligations and the money spent on summer camp could be put into his savings bank in the future.)

(Thank Kami, he managed to convince her.)

She couldn't even avenge them if she wanted to, because not only would it get her killed, it wouldn't bring them back - it wouldn't erase her mistake and-

It wouldn't even work, in the first place.

The world listens to power so even if she had evidence, her parents' case would get swept into a rug with her career destroyed and her lying in a ditch somewhere.

Maybe she should have just bent over.

Maybe if she agreed-

Maybe they would have lived.

(Or maybe they wouldn't, but at least she could say she tried.)

Pushed into an alley by another crazy stalker who wanted to screw her, Misa couldn't even muster enough strength to fight back. She wanted to be alone so she sent her guards and manager away - and now-

She was paying for it.

(Misa wondered if she asked for this. Maybe, something inside her was fundamentally sick. Maybe, she did ask for the shit she was now going through.)

(Maybe, it really was her fault.)

(Kuu, how selfish.)

(Misa still had her younger brother to take care of and she knew her parents wouldn't want this for her, but-)

(For a second, she couldn't help but wish for death just so she could escape the niggling gritty she'd been feeling since that day.)

(It made her want to scratch her skin out until it bled - because she was dirty, fucking disgusting, why-)

(Why was this happening to her?)

...

..

.

(Unfortunately, someone appeared.)

(Ha.)

Gelus pen vanished into thin air as an unkempt young man incapacitated the person who wanted to hurt his Misa effortlessly. The stranger's movements were smooth and unhurried as he broke the other man's wrist and knocked him out cold.

The Shinigami sighed in relief - his tattered hand trembling as he saw Misa's lifespan change in accordance with the intervention.

His Misa was alright.

"Thank you," Gelus rasped to his Misa's savior roughly in gratitude.

The young man stopped and turned to Gelus sharply, his red eyes faintly flashing in the dim light.

Gelus froze. Red eyes.

Shinigami eyes.

This man-

He could see him. How? His lifespan-

"I didn't do it for her." The youth muttered with faint disdain, unmindful of the strange look his Misa shot him.

Before Gelus could react, he heard footsteps sedately walking toward them - his body unconsciously - illogically stiffening with every step the person took as it went nearer.

"BB," A voice called out. "There you are. Where were you?"

The young man's attitude turned a hundred eighty as a hand pointed to his Misa - his expression childishly pleased. "I was saving her, A." He crooned, his mouth crinkling into an awkward smile as the figure moved closer to the light. "She seemed to need help and I just did what I could."

It was a young girl - age not far from his Misa's, masked and frail with her name twisting and changing above her head, and a countdown frozen to one.

She was unusual, yes, but-

Gelus shuddered.

An otherworldly aura that he hadn't felt in what seemed to be a long time ago seeped into the air as the Shinigami with strength second only to the Shinigami King appeared beside the frail figure.

Nu.

(Her strength increased again.)

(As expected of the enforcer of the Shinigami laws.)

"Look, it changed, right?" He blubbered excitedly and - to Gelus' shock - puffed up his cheeks to the rock-like frame. "I lengthened her countdown."

The girl, A, glanced at Nu beside her before nodding gently, humoring BB. "Hai, hai. You did well, BB. You'll get strawberry jam later."

"Ahh," BB sighed in delight. "You're the best, A. Your jam's the only one that tastes great, ah."

"I gave you the brand of the jam before I left, BB." A's eyes crinkled, amused.

The young man's eyes darkened for a second, his features twisting grotesquely - before his smile widened. "It just doesn't taste right when you're not the one giving it."

A laughed, her eyes inexplicably fond. "Really?"

"Really, really," BB said earnestly.

A shook her head, nodding to Misa politely and stepping around the near-corpse in the sidewalk. "You're ridiculous."

"I'm not," BB protested. "You're too mean, A."

A grinned beneath her mask and the two eventually disappeared on his line of sight - with his Misa watching their back with a complicated look in her eyes. Glancing at the street cautiously, she hurriedly ran to her house without looking back.

Gelus didn't follow her this time.

"Long time no see, Nu." He greeted, his tone reverent.

"Gelus." The air in his chest tightened. "Why are you here?"

"I-"

"You were going to change that girl's fate, weren't you?" Nu hummed, her numerous eyes boring holes in Gelus' tattered body. "Why?"

Gelus averted his eyes. "I just like looking at her, Nu." He defended softly. "She was interesting."

"Interesting enough to sacrifice your life for her?"

Gelus was silent.

Was she?

(His Misa -)

(His Misa was a complex character. Gelus enjoyed watching her growth, her grit, her humanity and the faults that made her the Misa that caught and continued to hold his attention, but-)

(Was she enough?)

(There would be countless humans, after all. Ones that would shine even brighter than she did and-)

(Was the meager knowledge that he had for this human's existence enough for him to sacrifice the only thing he had?)

(...Yes, it was, in a way that was and wasn't because-)

"It wasn't like I had anything left to live for Nu," Gelus finally replied, smiling bitterly.

Nu looked at him measuredly before she chuckled, floating away to the direction the young woman went into. "Suit yourself. Just-" Gelus' body convulsed in indescribable pain, a taste of the hell the Shinigami before him was capable of - a warning, before a moment passed and the torture abruptly ended. "Watch yourself. You know the rules."

Gelus forced himself to respectfully nod as he panted slightly, "Yes."

Author's Note: Another chapter done. I'm on a roll today, lol. Three works updated in a week. Ko-fi? Reviews? Ah, I also created an account recently and uh- check it out if you like. Same name as my username. Donating there would motivate me harder I think, because there's a monthly subscription and I couldn't procrastinate on chapters anymore since I don't want to owe anyone. I'll probably answer questions there - clarify why I wrote some things in a particular way and stuff. Cough, I'm embarrassed lmao. Thanks for reading. :)