[ Oh my God, even when she mutes her whole phone the notifications still get though, she even turned the volume all the way down and it's still pinging— a call notification?! Seriously? She can hang up, right? ... Of course not, there's no way to reject the call. Figures. No way is she actually answering this thing, though.
She lets it ring out for a good twenty seconds before the anxiety of an unanswered phone call finally gets to her and she snatches her phone back up. She fumbles with it for a second — no way is she accepting this call while letting whoever's on the other end see her — before covering the front camera with her thumb and finally picking up, chattering away at high speed before he can speak. ]
Yes, hello, I'm here! No, I'm not interested in whatever you're selling, thank you very much! Unsubscribe, cancel membership, bye bye, see you later!
[ the video shows a young man of similar age to Ai sitting in what looks like a PC gamer chair with a very goth looking bedroom behind him. Not a call center for sure. He's leaned forward with anticipation, about to speak before she goes off]
Wha- wait, I told you this wasn't an ad-
... what happened to the camera? Is it broken...?
[annnnd there he goes fiddling with his camera, giving a close up of his hands instead of anything useful]
[ . . . Huh. That's really not what she was expecting to see and yet at the same time, it's kind of exactly what she was expecting to see??? ... He's a little old to be this deep in a chuunibyou phase, though... ]
It's working just fine. Haven't you ever heard you're supposed to cover your camera if you think someone weird's watching you on the internet?
[ 'like you' — she doesn't say but really, does she need to. ]
I understand it pretty well. You hacked my phone and put this spyware thingy on it so you can watch me. That's weird.
[ Weird enough that she absolutely shouldn't be riling this guy up. She knows full well that egging him on can only end in disaster — if she's obsessed enough to put in this much effort, who knows what else he'll do?
And he's on her personal phone, too. Her skin itches at the thought of what he might have dug out of it while he was installing this thing. ]
I know this probably won't work, but... if I tell you honestly that I'm freaked out and ask you to back off a little bit, will you do it?
[he opens his mouth, about to deny her... but that same disquiet he felt the day she "died" comes back, and he shuts it again, thinking.]
I... apologize. It wasn't my intent to scare you.
[he looks aside, chewing on his lip with nerves.]
Maybe... I can find another solution.
[he could just go there now and finish the task. Or make a formal request for a replacement- he'd punished, but was unlikely to be Terminated for the failure if he reported it now. Months late.
[ ... this is strange. Normally from a fan this obsessed, any sort of pushback would be enough to rile him up. She expects a snarl of annoyance, possessive, entitled anger... and instead, there's nothing. In fact... something about his expression makes her feel a little bad.
Her lips part, like she means to say something but before any words can come out— ]
— Huh? Hold on a—
[ — he's gone.
Ai stares down at her phone. Her instinct is to try and delete this weird app again but something stalls her. She doesn't know what it is. Something about the guilt on his face, the gap between the sort of determination that would make you hack someone's phone to keep an eye on them — and the sort of consideration to back off the moment you realize they're scared.
She doesn't get it all all. But if she asks...
After a few moments, she starts typing. ]
So if you're not selling anything What exactly are these 'duties' you're talking about?
[ For a split second, her whole body goes cold. She tastes bitter rust and bile in her mouth, a rotting, sucking pain splits her abdomen open and her hands, her clothes, the hallway is wet and reeking with blood.
Oh. No, that hasn't happened at all. She's sitting on the sofa in her new apartment, bent double with her hands pressed so hard into her stomach that it hurts. She realizes she hasn't taken a breath in a few seconds and takes a moment to remember what the rhythm of breathing is.
She picks her phone up from the floor. When did she drop it? Good thing the screen didn't crack. Everything's fine. ]
seriously? well then it's up to me to educate you.
grim reapers have a duty to ferry the souls of mortals to the afterlife. your soul was scheduled but something caused your assigned reaper to fail their task. i'm trying to figure out why.
[ Before he's even done speaking, Ai cuts across him. ]
Is this some kind of joke?
[ Her voice trembles, as does her breath on a shaky, wet inhale. Even without being able to see her, it's clear why this was an audio call and not video.
She's crying. ]
If this is supposed to be f-funny, I don't— [ Another sharp intake of breath. ] What's wrong with you!? Was messing around with my phone not good enough? I haven't done anything wrong, I haven't done anything at all since I got home and— Is that what this is? Are you angry? Is this some kind of threat, if I don't go back to B-Komachi, you'll—
[ Once again, her voice cracks. Her composure has fractured to pieces, too. In its place is a gruesome blend of ugly emotions — anger, humiliation and fear all bleeding together into something that can only make its way out of you in tears. ]
I didn't do anything wrong! [ Again, louder, even as her voice breaks: ] I didn't do anything wrong! You and Ryosuke-kun and all the rest of them, why can't you— why can't you just leave me alone?!
[ Finally, she runs out of breath. The words stop pouring out.
But if the sharp, breathy noises on the call are anything to go by, she hasn't stopped crying. ]
no subject
...
So this whatever you're observing
is me?
no subject
And Yes.
1/2
Ai closes the app. ]
no subject
1/?
No way she actually-]
no subject
no subject
I'm The Grim Reaper You Can't Escape Me That Easily!
...
Answer Me!
Hello?
Did It Not Install Correctly?
no subject
...
okay it says it's connected why aren't you answering
test test
Answer Me!!
...
did you die??? you're not allowed to do that yet!!
...
maybe i should call?
yes, i'll call you won't ignore that, right?
End
Answer?]
no subject
She lets it ring out for a good twenty seconds before the anxiety of an unanswered phone call finally gets to her and she snatches her phone back up. She fumbles with it for a second — no way is she accepting this call while letting whoever's on the other end see her — before covering the front camera with her thumb and finally picking up, chattering away at high speed before he can speak. ]
Yes, hello, I'm here! No, I'm not interested in whatever you're selling, thank you very much! Unsubscribe, cancel membership, bye bye, see you later!
no subject
Wha- wait, I told you this wasn't an ad-
... what happened to the camera? Is it broken...?
[annnnd there he goes fiddling with his camera, giving a close up of his hands instead of anything useful]
no subject
It's working just fine. Haven't you ever heard you're supposed to cover your camera if you think someone weird's watching you on the internet?
[ 'like you' — she doesn't say but really, does she need to. ]
no subject
Is that so...? Well, that's not an issue since I am not weird.
[he sits back in his seat, resting his face on his wrist like a lounging king on his throne]
no subject
[ she's having to actively suppress the Mom Urge to bark at him to sit up straight like Miyako does with her... ]
no subject
Just because it's something you don't understand doesn't make it 'weird', Mortal.
no subject
[ Weird enough that she absolutely shouldn't be riling this guy up. She knows full well that egging him on can only end in disaster — if she's obsessed enough to put in this much effort, who knows what else he'll do?
And he's on her personal phone, too. Her skin itches at the thought of what he might have dug out of it while he was installing this thing. ]
I know this probably won't work, but... if I tell you honestly that I'm freaked out and ask you to back off a little bit, will you do it?
no subject
I... apologize. It wasn't my intent to scare you.
[he looks aside, chewing on his lip with nerves.]
Maybe... I can find another solution.
[he could just go there now and finish the task. Or make a formal request for a replacement- he'd punished, but was unlikely to be Terminated for the failure if he reported it now. Months late.
Damn it.]
... have a good day, Hoshino Ai.
[and the call ends]
no subject
Her lips part, like she means to say something but before any words can come out— ]
— Huh? Hold on a—
[ — he's gone.
Ai stares down at her phone. Her instinct is to try and delete this weird app again but something stalls her. She doesn't know what it is. Something about the guilt on his face, the gap between the sort of determination that would make you hack someone's phone to keep an eye on them — and the sort of consideration to back off the moment you realize they're scared.
She doesn't get it all all. But if she asks...
After a few moments, she starts typing. ]
So if you're not selling anything
What exactly are these 'duties' you're talking about?
no subject
He sighs, switching to his phone and flopping back on his bed, using Asrael as a pillow]
i'm a grim reaper. i'm sure you have some idea why i'm here.
1/2
Oh. No, that hasn't happened at all. She's sitting on the sofa in her new apartment, bent double with her hands pressed so hard into her stomach that it hurts. She realizes she hasn't taken a breath in a few seconds and takes a moment to remember what the rhythm of breathing is.
She picks her phone up from the floor. When did she drop it? Good thing the screen didn't crack. Everything's fine. ]
no subject
no subject
grim reapers have a duty to ferry the souls of mortals to the afterlife. your soul was scheduled but something caused your assigned reaper to fail their task. i'm trying to figure out why.
no subject
But then— ]
SOUL#55891 started an Audio Call. Answer?
>Yes
>Yes
no subject
Hello?
no subject
Is this some kind of joke?
[ Her voice trembles, as does her breath on a shaky, wet inhale. Even without being able to see her, it's clear why this was an audio call and not video.
She's crying. ]
If this is supposed to be f-funny, I don't— [ Another sharp intake of breath. ] What's wrong with you!? Was messing around with my phone not good enough? I haven't done anything wrong, I haven't done anything at all since I got home and— Is that what this is? Are you angry? Is this some kind of threat, if I don't go back to B-Komachi, you'll—
[ Once again, her voice cracks. Her composure has fractured to pieces, too. In its place is a gruesome blend of ugly emotions — anger, humiliation and fear all bleeding together into something that can only make its way out of you in tears. ]
I didn't do anything wrong! [ Again, louder, even as her voice breaks: ] I didn't do anything wrong! You and Ryosuke-kun and all the rest of them, why can't you— why can't you just leave me alone?!
[ Finally, she runs out of breath. The words stop pouring out.
But if the sharp, breathy noises on the call are anything to go by, she hasn't stopped crying. ]
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