[Ghost Whisperer/Yami no Matsuei] (PG)
Author's Note: Written for Ghost Whisperer/any, any, new existence.
Melinda awoke in the middle of the night, hearing voices in the kitchen. She was no stranger to the voices of errant spirits, but this didn't sound quite as ethereal. She heard cabinets opening and a voice speaking sharply. Burglars? she thought, but the voices still sounded odd. Noisy ghosts? She got up and tiptoed down to the kitchen, following the voices.
She peered into the kitchen careful, not to let herself be seen. Someone had switched on the light, and a tall young man in a rumpled black suit had his hand in the cookie jar, rummaging about. A smaller man, perhaps in his teens, red-blonde with green eyes, tugged on his sleeve, trying to get him out of it. "Someone's going to hear us," the younger man grumbled, in Japanese, but somehow she understood them. They're spirits... she realized.
"We're going to get caught," the younger man insisted.
"Yeah, but they're chocolate chip, and I think they're homemade," the taller man insisted.
The younger man looked in Melinda's direction. "Dammit, Tsuzuki, you woke her up," he snapped.
"But you're the one doing all the yelling," Tsuzuki retorted.
She stepped into the kitchen. "Can I help you?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah," the violet-eyed young man said, finally pulling his hand out of the cookie jar. Of course a tell-tale smear showed at one corner of his mouth. "We hate to barge into your kitchen but it**'s a bit of a hotspot."
"Hotspot?" Melinda asked, baffled. "A hotspot for what?"
"For spirit activity: they turn up here quite a bit, which is odd, like you're a magnet for them," Tsuzuki said.
"I can see them and speak to them, and that makes them come to me," she said, puzzled and wondering just how these two got here. Ghosts usually did not have enough substance to raid the cookie jar, much less eat the cookies from it.
"What he means is, we're shinigami, guardians of the dead. We usually help the spirits of the departed cross over into the after life," the emerald-eyed young man said. "I'm Hisoka Kurosaki and this is my partner Asato Tsuzuki."
"I'm Melinda Gordon," she replied, introducing herself as if she was addressing living humans. "But you're... spirits," she pointed out, trying to get this clear in her head.
"Well, we used to be humans, but at our deaths, the Lord of Hades took us into his kingdom and gave us a new existence with a new job, helping the souls of the dead," Tsuzuki explained. "We both died with regret in our hearts for things we had done or hadn't done during our earthly lives. And so now, we have a new existence, fulfilling our debt by helping the dead cross over, before we can cross over ourselves."
"So you're... dead gods? like the grim reaper?" she said, taking a half step backward.
Tsuzuki put up his hands disarmingly, his pretty face concerned now. "Oh, not really: I mean, we have the power to help a soul out of its body, but we use it carefully," he said. Then with a bit of an amused blush, he added, "And as to being like the grim reaper, I guess I'm more of a grinning reaper. Hisoka here is the grim one."
"No, I'm not," Hisoka retorted, darting a glare at his partner, but there was a patience in his young face, as if he had hear this joke many times and he was used to hearing it. All part of working with the other death god, like two work partners who had worked together for so long, they had a fondness and closeness and understanding for each other, like an old married couple.
She could not help but smile at the two of them. "So what brought you into my kitchen, in the middle of the night?" she asked, getting them back on track.
"Well, like I said, we were trying to find out why so many souls were sort of... detouring through here," Tsuzuki explained.
"Most spirits who end up stuck in the mortal world usually come to the attention of us, the agents of the Ministry of Hades, but they were still finding a way to the after life," Hisoka explained. "It just wasn't going through the usual channels, so they had us take a look into it."
"So what I'm doing is an unusual channel?" she asked. "I hope this doesn't get you into trouble with your... boss." How come she had not met any of their kind before this?
"We usually work out of sight," Hisoka replied, divining her question: she could not help wondering if he had some sort of mind reading skills. "And there won't be any trouble: it's unusual, but the souls are finding their way to where they need to be. And that's what matters, not the whole bureaucratic process."
"So, you're like some kind of detectives in the afterlife?" Melinda asked.
"That's one good way to look at it!" Tsuzuki said, with a grin, pleased that she was getting it. Clearing his throat and turning more officious, he looked around. "There really doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary here, so I guess we won't keep you longer. Hope we didn't wake you up."
"Actually you did, but I've been woken up plenty of times," Melinda said.
"And you ate most of her cookies," Hisoka cut in.
"I was hungry!" Tsuzuki snipped back, starting to whine a bit, like a kid caught in the act.
"Don't worry about it, any of it: I can bake more," Melinda said. "I won't keep you if you've got places to be."
"And we won't keep you up any longer than we have to," Tsuzuki said, bowing to her. "You take it easy."
And with that, the two young men stepped into the shadows of the kitchen and disappeared from sight.
Guardians of the dead... she thought as she headed back to bed, but they seemed gentle enough, but she wondered just why they had come here. Perhaps this would not be the last she would see of them, but somehow, as friendly as they had been, it felt a bit unsettling.
Melinda awoke in the middle of the night, hearing voices in the kitchen. She was no stranger to the voices of errant spirits, but this didn't sound quite as ethereal. She heard cabinets opening and a voice speaking sharply. Burglars? she thought, but the voices still sounded odd. Noisy ghosts? She got up and tiptoed down to the kitchen, following the voices.
She peered into the kitchen careful, not to let herself be seen. Someone had switched on the light, and a tall young man in a rumpled black suit had his hand in the cookie jar, rummaging about. A smaller man, perhaps in his teens, red-blonde with green eyes, tugged on his sleeve, trying to get him out of it. "Someone's going to hear us," the younger man grumbled, in Japanese, but somehow she understood them. They're spirits... she realized.
"We're going to get caught," the younger man insisted.
"Yeah, but they're chocolate chip, and I think they're homemade," the taller man insisted.
The younger man looked in Melinda's direction. "Dammit, Tsuzuki, you woke her up," he snapped.
"But you're the one doing all the yelling," Tsuzuki retorted.
She stepped into the kitchen. "Can I help you?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah," the violet-eyed young man said, finally pulling his hand out of the cookie jar. Of course a tell-tale smear showed at one corner of his mouth. "We hate to barge into your kitchen but it**'s a bit of a hotspot."
"Hotspot?" Melinda asked, baffled. "A hotspot for what?"
"For spirit activity: they turn up here quite a bit, which is odd, like you're a magnet for them," Tsuzuki said.
"I can see them and speak to them, and that makes them come to me," she said, puzzled and wondering just how these two got here. Ghosts usually did not have enough substance to raid the cookie jar, much less eat the cookies from it.
"What he means is, we're shinigami, guardians of the dead. We usually help the spirits of the departed cross over into the after life," the emerald-eyed young man said. "I'm Hisoka Kurosaki and this is my partner Asato Tsuzuki."
"I'm Melinda Gordon," she replied, introducing herself as if she was addressing living humans. "But you're... spirits," she pointed out, trying to get this clear in her head.
"Well, we used to be humans, but at our deaths, the Lord of Hades took us into his kingdom and gave us a new existence with a new job, helping the souls of the dead," Tsuzuki explained. "We both died with regret in our hearts for things we had done or hadn't done during our earthly lives. And so now, we have a new existence, fulfilling our debt by helping the dead cross over, before we can cross over ourselves."
"So you're... dead gods? like the grim reaper?" she said, taking a half step backward.
Tsuzuki put up his hands disarmingly, his pretty face concerned now. "Oh, not really: I mean, we have the power to help a soul out of its body, but we use it carefully," he said. Then with a bit of an amused blush, he added, "And as to being like the grim reaper, I guess I'm more of a grinning reaper. Hisoka here is the grim one."
"No, I'm not," Hisoka retorted, darting a glare at his partner, but there was a patience in his young face, as if he had hear this joke many times and he was used to hearing it. All part of working with the other death god, like two work partners who had worked together for so long, they had a fondness and closeness and understanding for each other, like an old married couple.
She could not help but smile at the two of them. "So what brought you into my kitchen, in the middle of the night?" she asked, getting them back on track.
"Well, like I said, we were trying to find out why so many souls were sort of... detouring through here," Tsuzuki explained.
"Most spirits who end up stuck in the mortal world usually come to the attention of us, the agents of the Ministry of Hades, but they were still finding a way to the after life," Hisoka explained. "It just wasn't going through the usual channels, so they had us take a look into it."
"So what I'm doing is an unusual channel?" she asked. "I hope this doesn't get you into trouble with your... boss." How come she had not met any of their kind before this?
"We usually work out of sight," Hisoka replied, divining her question: she could not help wondering if he had some sort of mind reading skills. "And there won't be any trouble: it's unusual, but the souls are finding their way to where they need to be. And that's what matters, not the whole bureaucratic process."
"So, you're like some kind of detectives in the afterlife?" Melinda asked.
"That's one good way to look at it!" Tsuzuki said, with a grin, pleased that she was getting it. Clearing his throat and turning more officious, he looked around. "There really doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary here, so I guess we won't keep you longer. Hope we didn't wake you up."
"Actually you did, but I've been woken up plenty of times," Melinda said.
"And you ate most of her cookies," Hisoka cut in.
"I was hungry!" Tsuzuki snipped back, starting to whine a bit, like a kid caught in the act.
"Don't worry about it, any of it: I can bake more," Melinda said. "I won't keep you if you've got places to be."
"And we won't keep you up any longer than we have to," Tsuzuki said, bowing to her. "You take it easy."
And with that, the two young men stepped into the shadows of the kitchen and disappeared from sight.
Guardians of the dead... she thought as she headed back to bed, but they seemed gentle enough, but she wondered just why they had come here. Perhaps this would not be the last she would see of them, but somehow, as friendly as they had been, it felt a bit unsettling.