Yumi Of Death

So here I am, in a limbo that only *Yumi, the Grinning Death Goddess*, could invent. Thanks to her twisted sense of humor, I'm now stuck between "alive" and "dead." Think of it like a phone with 1% battery that won't shut off.

"You're half alive, half dead," Yumi declared, sipping from her death-themed tea cup. "Isn't it fun?!"

I stared at her blankly. "No. It's like my life now has a *loading bar.*"

She just smirked. "And the fun part? You *can* still die. Again."

*The Angel Arrives: Cool but Female*

You'd think being half-dead meant I could at least get a break. Nope.

Light flooded the ruined classroom (Yumi's personal haunt), and I mean *actual light*—like someone just turned on a divine spotlight. I shielded my eyes, squinting through the beams. And then, I saw her:

An angel.

But not just *any* angel.

She landed softly on the floor, her golden wings folding behind her like curtains of light. Her hair was silvery and long, tied loosely, and she wore a flowing, white-and-gold robe that screamed *divine elegance*. In her hand? A glowing spear.

"I am *Urielle,*" she said calmly. Her voice was soft but carried weight, like silk wrapped around steel. "Guardian of the Tethered."

Yumi waved lazily. "Hey, Urielle. Been a while."

"Yumi," the angel replied, frowning. "What did you *do* this time?"

"She turned me into a half-corpse!" I blurted.

Urielle turned her soft, glowing gaze to me and sighed. "Of course she did."

*Nana—The Zombie Who Thinks This is Normal*

Before I could process the angel's dramatic entrance, I heard something. A weird, *wet* shuffle.

"Hi~! Sorry I'm late!"

I turned. And there she was: a girl with green-tinted skin, tangled hair, and a smile so big and bright that it almost made you forget she was literally *rotting.*

"I'm Nana," she said cheerfully. "I'm in the exchange program for zombies. Oh!" She plopped into a desk and held out a hand. "Nice to meetcha!"

I looked at her. Then her half-missing fingernails. Then back at her. "You're a *zombie*?"

"I'm a *cute* zombie," she corrected, grinning wide. "And, uh, I guess we're classmates now! Don't worry, I don't bite. Usually."

*My Brother: A New Problem*

Meanwhile, back in the *real* world, my older brother, Kaito, was losing his mind.

"Something's wrong," he muttered, flipping through my notebooks and scouring my desk for clues. "He's missing. He *has* to be alive—unless…"

Then, out loud, to no one in particular:

"Did he have a girlfriend?!"

Kaito was nothing if not persistent. In his mind, I wasn't "dead," I was off secretly dating someone.

*An Exorcist Enters—and Almost Ends Me*

So, funny story: I didn't know that being half-alive *also* made me look like a ghost to certain people. One of them? A rookie exorcist.

He burst into the room like someone in a bad horror movie.

"SPIRIT! BEGONE!"

Before I could say, "Wait, I'm not a—"

*SPLASH.*

Holy water. Right to the face.

It stung.

"AGH! I'M HALF ALIVE, YOU IDIOT!"

Urielle stepped between us, wings flaring. "Enough."

The exorcist blinked. "An *angel*?"

"Leave. *Now.*"

The exorcist fled, tripping over his own feet.

*Yumi's Smug Victory*

And where was Yumi during all this?

She sat perched on her *death chair,* a throne made of bones and shadows, sipping tea like my near-second-death was a soap opera she had been dying to watch.

"That almost went poorly," Urielle said, narrowing her eyes at Yumi.

"Eh," Yumi replied, smirking. "It builds character."

I glared at her. "Do you *enjoy* torturing me?"

"Yes."

*The Aftermath*

Urielle turned to me, her soft gaze serious. "Your soul is unstable, but it's not too late to fix this."

"Fix what?!" I snapped. "I didn't ask to be *half dead!*"

Yumi grinned. "But where's the fun in asking?"

Nana leaned in, whispering loudly. "Don't worry! She only does this to people she *likes.*"

Great. I'm half-alive, half-dead, hunted by exorcists, monitored by angels, and stuck with a zombie who thinks *this* is normal.

Somehow, I had a feeling this was only the beginning.

**To Be Continued...**