Chapter 1 - Sakura Fire

She was the most beautiful person that I have ever seen. Yura, she was more beautiful than the blooming cherry blossoms.
Yura was my wife for five wonderful years. We had been together for five years.
We had had three children, there were beautiful.
But I would never get to see them grow up. They would never live long enough for me to hold their hands as they walked down the aisle.
We were at the festival, a festival to celebrate the death of our loved ones, when I started the fire.
My hand sparked on its own.
It was all my fault.
They weren’t there to see the fire start.
They should have run, but they were caught in the middle of it.
My heart skipped when I heard her scream. I ran to find her, she was engulfed in the flames, and so were our children. They died first; she had to stifle their screams, so they wouldn’t be in anymore pain. She killed them to save them from that horrible pain.
She looked at me, I went to hold her.
She shook her head. “You have to stay alive, Kastyr, don’t worry, the butterflies will take us away safely.”
Her smile was sad, but she knew what was right. She tried her best to not scream, she only cried, as she lay on the ground. I held her close.
She whispered softly. “You are my only love, and you have to hold me forever, in your heart.”
Then he came. The old man, with the knotted beard, the crooked cane, the light blue eyes.
“I have come to free her from her pain, young shinigami.” He said with an oddly strong voice. “You can take her away if you desire, but only you can choose.”
I looked at the old man. Why did I recognize him? I had never seen him before in my life.
“Young Kastyr, why don’t you decide for yourself? Can you take her, or would you rather I take her from her prison?”
“Who are you?”
“I am, but I am not. I think, but I don’t equally exist. Your fear, and your dreams, I am all of those things. I am also the butterflies to save those who need to be saved from their prison, like your beloved, and your children. You need to choose if you want to save her, or if I should instead.”
My mind almost stopped. “I-I-I can’t kill her. I can’t kill Yura.” I began to cry. “Not when I started the fire in the first place!”
“Wouldn’t this make up for it? Saving her?”
“I can’t do it!” I shook my head in protest. “I can’t kill her.”
“Kastyr, my beloved,” Yura said my name, and brought me back to our reality. “This is yours now.” She removed her necklace with much difficulty. “This is for you; this is a reminder that we were together.”
I took the chain, and it burned my hand. It didn’t hurt as bad as the burns that covered half of my body already. “I’m so sorry Yura, I’m so, so, so very sorry.” I held her tightly. “It was all my fault. The fire, I accidentally started it. I don’t know how, I just did.”
“I know.” She said softly, her eyes closed gracefully, and she became heavy.
“She’s left you, young shinigami. She’s finally been freed, but now you need to learn what it’s really like, saving those who need to be saved.” The old man chuckled. “You’re going to need more courage than that my friend.”
I stared at him, how could he laugh at a time like this?
“I can take you to see the demon king, only if you want to, that is. He can help you with your fear. He has enough to deal with as it is, but I told him about you, he’s waiting for you.” The old man smiled. “My name is of no importance, but this is,” he handed me a double half-moon crest. “Use her memory to keep this with you. This is part of your destiny. This is your new beginning, make the best of it. You’ll see her again eventually. But you need to live for her sake, until you die.” He kept his smile.
Yura stood beside him, unharmed.
“Y-Yura!”
“Trust him, my beloved, for we are safe here, you don’t have to pin this on yourself. Your fire did this to move time forward.”
I sat there, Yura’s body was in my hands, yet she smiled at me from where she stood, next to the old man.
“I-I-I see.” I held the corpse of my beloved tightly. “I’ll try my best to be stronger. I’ll hold you in my heart forever.”
Her spirit kissed me on the cheek, and then, they vanished.
The butterflies flew out of the fire, completely unscathed.
I had lost everything.
What did that old man mean anyway? That I will live until I die, and why did he call me a shinigami, I’m no reaper.
However, I do know this, my life wouldn’t ever be the same again, nor would I live long enough to find out.
But now I sit here, in this empty room. I am the living dead, as I have been for eighty years, and I still love her.

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