The wish lottery!~

Akira felt pain as he hit the bottom but this physical pain was not even comparable to the pain he felt in his heart.

He choked on his own blood and his breathing eventually came to a stop as his pupils dilated and his eyelids soon fell over, covering his eyes as he fell asleep.

A deep slumber that he was never going to wake up from.

Or so, he thought...

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Suddenly, a man jumped down from the top of the building and landed on his feet, right next to Akira.

He had been there for more than an hour and it seemed that he had been eavesdropping on their conversation since the very beginning, however, he also looked to be completely uninterested from start till the end.

DING~

<Congratulations on winning the wish lottery!~>

"Ah, shit! Here we go again," The man sighed with a deep voice as he cursed under his breath and looked down at Akira who limply lay dead on the ground.

"Wake up. Stop acting," He nudged the dead man with his left foot.

"Eh?" Akira slowly opened his eyes as he heard this voice and when he looked up, he was met with the handsome face of a pale man that wore dark clothes covering his entire body.

For a second there, Akira almost wondered if he was looking at a model or not.

"How long are you going to take?" The man asked as he clicked his tongue and coldly looked at Akira.

"Who are you?" Akira gulped as he asked.

The man sighed as he heard this and flicked his finger. Suddenly, out of nowhere, there appeared a scythe in his hand.

"Do you still not get it?" He questioned without giving a proper answer to Akira.

Akira gulped as he shook his head and although he already had some idea about the man's identity, he still decided to act as if he was clueless, "I don't."

"What a dumb soul. Let me spell it out for you." The man once again clicked his tongue in annoyance as he spoke, "I'm the grim reaper in charge of your soul."

"Ah… I see…" Akira muttered as he sat up and looked down to see that his body hadn't moved from its place but had divided into two instead. One was his physical body while the other was his celestial soul.

One lay on the ground, dead for sure while the other, more translucent version, sat up just as he had wanted it to, "I forgot about that…"

"For someone who just died, you seem to be taking this well," The man blinked with a bit of surprise as he saw Akira adjusting well to the sudden changes.

"So, where am I going now?" Akira straightened his back and asked without bothering to waste any time.

"You're an eager one," The man commented, looking to be a little impressed, "But unfortunately, first we need to take care of some troublesome news."

"..."

"You won the wish lottery," The man informed and he certainly didn't look to be excited about it.

"Uh… Is that right?" Akira blinked in confusion as he asked, "And what exactly does that mean?"

"It means you get a wish. One last dying wish. I'm just telling you beforehand so that you don't get any funny ideas but you can't use the wish to make yourself alive again."

Akira chuckled as he heard this and responded softly, "It wasn't like I was ever going to wish for that."

"Is that so? Then that's good." The man sighed as he spoke, "Now make a wish fast so that we can get this over with. I'm a busy man and want to rest after I'm done here."

"I get to ask for anything except for living?" Akira questioned as he looked at the Grim reaper with an indecipherable expression plastered on his face.

"Yeah, you get anything you want except for that." The man clicked his tongue in annoyance as he anxiously tapped his finger on the scythe, clearly showing his disinterest and lack of patience.

"Then I only have one wish," Akira immediately responded.

"So fast?" The man was once again a bit shocked as he asked, "Shouldn't you think it over before you ask for something? This is a once-in-a-death opportunity."

Akira nodded his head as he confirmed it and spoke up, "I'm already dead so I don't really have a variety of wishing options. There's only one thing I want to ask for. Help me solve my murder."

"You were killed by your best friend Asahi Sato and your fiance Ayami Watanabe," The man responded impatiently, "There! Solved. I've granted your wish so let's go."

"No, that's not it!" Akira gulped as he shook his head and spoke up firmly, "I want to understand where everything went wrong!"

"Eh?"

"I want to know why Sato suddenly changed so much and I want to know why my fiance was there."

The grim reaper looked a bit surprised but he certainly didn't look to be pleased as he heard this.

"Tch- So much extra work! Can't you just pass away in peace?! Are you trying to torture me here or something?!"

"..." Akira frowned as he asked, "Weren't you the one who said I could wish for anything I wanted?! Help me understand this confusion I feel in my heart!"

The Grim reaper, "....."

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*Twenty years ago*

"Wah~" A little Akira exclaimed in awe as he looked at the little puppy that they had come across.

"Akira, we'll get in trouble if we are late," Asahi whined as the boy crouched down next to Akira and stroked the puppy's fluffy back.

The puppy was just a few weeks old and even had a collar with a name on it which meant that it was one of those pets that had been abandoned by their owners.

Akira looked to be fascinated with this puppy and even Asahi seemed to be interested in the little thing.

The little ball of fluff had white fur with two black ears which were really not commonly found on this island and perhaps that was the reason why the two boys were instantly attracted to the little animal.

Over the years, there had been a lot of abandoned cats and dogs roaming the island so it wasn't uncommon to find some while going back home, however, it was still rare to find one that was this young and cute.

Akira looked at the collar closely and read out the name of the puppy, "Lele?"

The boy was not yet that good with katakana* so he had read the name wrong, however, in the end, no one bothered to correct him, and the little puppy was stuck with the name Lele.

( *Katakana: Katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana and kanji )

"Are you going to take it home?" Asahi asked enthusiastically as he looked at Akira.

When Akira heard this question, he looked to be happy at the beginning, however, soon enough, that happiness was nowhere to be seen as the boy frowned when he realized that he wouldn't be able to take it home even if he wanted to.

Asahi also frowned as he saw the dejected look on Akira's face and the boy raised his hand to knock on Akira's yellow safety helmet as if trying to snap the boy out of his thoughts.

"If you're not going to take it home, I am. Grandma would be more than happy to take Lele in."

Akira looked to be surprised as he heard this and the boy immediately nodded his head as he exclaimed, "Really? That would be great!"

Asahi smiled as he heard this and took the puppy from Akira's hand, "There is no reason why we should leave Lele behind."

Akira bobbed his head up and down as he heard this and agreed with the boy.

Asahi chuckled as he saw the silly smile on Akira's face and he stood up from the ground as he spoke, "Let's go now. If you are late, your mom is going to scold me."

Akira chuckled as he heard this and immediately stood up from the ground as he nodded his head, "You're right. She'll be mad."

Compared to Akira's house, Asahi's house was clearly better for the little Lele.

Akira lived together with his parents who were both strict and overprotective. He was sure that they would never allow him to have a pet.

Asahi, on the other hand, lived together with his grandmother who was a kind lady with a big heart. Feeding abandoned street dogs and cats was already her hobby so with Lele being in her care, both Asahi and Akira could rest assured that the little puppy would grow up in a happy family and would receive lots of love.