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...**