𝐤𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞

さん

The seagulls flew over me screaming and the smell of the salt water filled my nose. Crowds of people everywhere, everyone wanted to catch the best possible view of the Campania. Wealthy families posed smiling for a London newspaper camera, others were about to say goodbye to those family members who could not come on board. An unpleasant goosebumps came over me when I thought that this would be the last goodbye for many. But in the end none of them could know yet.

My right hand wrapped itself around the handle of the suitcase, which I had procured this morning when I arrived in London. In it were a set of changing clothes and a dress for the evening - adaptation was the best friend of a Shinigami.

It had been surprisingly easy to get a boarding pass.

Well, that was a lie.

However, the person whose card I now had would have died on Campania anyway. So why let him die a painful death by drowning when it was so much easier to steal his suitcase and ticket out of his jacket pocket? I couldn't help it if the man was already drunk early in the morning and didn't notice anything around him. I was aware that Shinigami were not allowed to just interfere in people's lives, but I didn't care at that moment, especially since I had killed three birds with one stone. First of all, I had my access to the Campania. Second: there was one less drunk on it and third: I didn't have to spend money on my own suitcase.

One last time I took a deep breath. Was I really ready for this? Going back to Shinigami work after all these years, like nothing ever happened?

I tried to ignore the doubtful thoughts as well as I could. Precisely these thoughts had been a major reason for my failure back then, listening to them now would only mean more chaos!

Slowly I was able to push my way through the crowds to the Campania. My modified scythe gave a dull, but at the same time resounding sound whenever it came up on the floor.

I felt envious glances thrown at me from the sides as I headed towards the ramp leading up to the ship. There, too, the crowd cleared up and an inspector pointed at me to show him my ticket. Silently I held it to him and looked at him with a stony face.

I recognized the man - he was relatively high on top of the death list.

He looked down at the ticket, then at me.

"A pleasant stay. " 

He finally wished and gave me back the ticket. I nodded before stepping up the ramp to the deck. There was already another employee waiting with an overly polite smile.

"Welcome to the Campania, Miss. May I see your ticket?"

I would have liked to have twisted my face at the sound of his voice dripping with false kindness, but it would have made me stand out negatively and that is exactly what was not allowed to happen to me under any circumstances. So I smiled back as wrongly as he did and handed him the ticket. For a brief moment he studied it before he nodded and tried to reach for my suitcase. At first I wanted to step back, but I knew it would look strange to him, so I let him take the suitcase.

"Follow me, my lady. I'll take you to your cabin!"

"Thank you very much. "

The man went ahead and I had no choice but to follow him.

As we walked - me following him - I went feverishly through the death list in my head. However, I could not remember seeing his face in it, which almost made me groan frustratedly and disappointedly. At the last moment, however, I was able to pinch it.

"Here we are, my lady. If you need anything, don't hesitate to talk to me or my colleagues. . . or me!" he said, bowing before rushing back.

"What a creep!" I muttered before turning the key in the cabin door, opening the door and entering my cabin. Inside, I quickly closed the door and threw the suitcase on the bed.
It was a very cute cabin. Through two port eyes I could look out to the water. In front of one porthole was the bed, in front of the other a small table with two chairs. Another door led into what I suspected was a bathroom.

"Nice.", I muttered before stepping to the bed and opening the suitcase. Let's see what I had actually stolen - I mean borrowed of course. I carefully placed my own overhead garments next to the suitcase.

"What the-?"

Surprised, I pulled out a pile of white coats from the suitcase. The man didn't seem to me like he was a doctor on duty. Especially not for the Campania. With my eyebrows furrowing, I took off the cloak and took the cloak on top, folded it apart and held it arm-width away from me. There I noticed the little gold pin. A little golden phoenix.

"Who are you?" I asked myself.

Maybe it was just a coincidence, but if I came across any more passengers who were either walking around with the coats or this golden phoenix plug, it was clear that something was going on. And if I could even lean that far out the window to make that claim, I would suspect that these people had something to do with the many dead people.

❀☯︎❀

The salty sea air blew towards me as I stood by the railing and watched as we moved away from the shore of the harbor. The seagulls were still screaming and around me were many families who also looked back at the harbour which slowly vanished from our sight.

I turned away from the picture given to me and stepped more into the middle of the deck. My hand was convulsively holding the knob of my cane. I was wondering if Grell's been here yet. Or-

A smile rested on my lips as my eyes settled on him. The blonde hair, the beige coat with matching hat; unmistakable.

"There was only one missing, dear colleague Knox!"I muttered to myself as I watched the younger Shinigami mingle with the crowds.