Chapter 4

                                    

                                          
In the shinigami realm, there is little to do for entertainment. It is a large, vast, barren waste of land; the air is dry and dusty. Most gods of death gamble their days away. Some look upon the many realms they rule over. The odd thing that many shinigami didn't do that Ryuk enjoyed was singing. Music was a most peculiar thing. The mixture of dragging out vowels and evening out tones and pitch of voice was a challenge for many, but Ryuk seemed to get the hang of it pretty well. It was the one thing that gave him pleasure in the shinigami realm.
This is why he was covering his ears and hunched over in a fetal position.
(Y/n) was a horrible singer.
Every morning she would take a long shower and "sing" for twenty minutes straight, scaring the other residents of the small home out to do whatever they could to get away from the dreadful noise.
Ryuk couldn't stand it any longer.
Without thinking, he uncovered his ears and floated through the bathroom wall to give her a piece of his mind.
"Would you just SHUT UP already?"
(Y/n) squeaked in surprise. Her body glistened from the excess of water pouring onto her light skin.
Ryuk blushed in embarrassment. He had forgotten that the wall he previously floated through was directly connected to the shower.
"What are you doing in here?" (y/n) asked quivering.
Ryuk turned around, giving the girl somewhat privacy he could in the small shower.
"If you're going to sing, make sure to tell me first so I can leave the house."
(Y/n) blinked behind him.
"Is my singing that bad?"
He stared at the condensation on the grey tiles in front of him. A water droplet slowly formed from the humidity and started to droop slightly before making its journey down the wall. Ryuk placed a finger underneath the droplet, ending its destined path to the floor. It was wet against his skin. This was a whole new feeling, a sensation shinigami never felt in their home realm. It was...interesting.
"Do humans feel satisfied by getting covered in water?" Ryuk questioned out of curiosity.
(Y/n) squirted a glob of shampoo in her hand while saying, "Is that your way of changing the subject?"
Ryuk turned to face her. "Of course not. I'm just curious. There is no water in the shinigami realm. We don't need it, so there's no point in having it."
White, foamy suds formed in (y/n)'s hair as she messaged the shampoo into her scalp.
"That's odd, but it does make sense."
Ryuk tilted his head. "What does?"
The teen raked her fingers through her hair, spreading the soap to the ends. "Not to be rude, but you stink." The shinigami laughed. "I'm rotting flesh, a god of death. You can't avoid the smell." (Y/n) ducked her head under the sprinkle of warm water. "Your skin doesn't fall off though. You have no skeleton, I'm assuming. You're made of dust, according to Misa; molded into who you are now. Kinda how humans were first created, if you think about it."
The idea made Ryuk pause. He had never thought of that. All he ever knew about the shinigami was what the king told him. This was different indeed.
"If you get wet, will you melt?" (y/n) asked.
He looked pointedly at her.
"I'm a god of death, not a witch."
"So you can get wet."
Ryuk glanced at his finger that had held the water droplet. The skin that was moist looked refreshed. Not like human skin, of course; the grey color seemed brighter. It reminded him of when he first woke up...
*FLASHBACK*
His eyes slowly opened, revealing the most dusty place he had ever seen. Had he ever seen anything else before? He couldn't remember. He put up a hand to cover his eyes, revealing his long, grey fingers. What am I?, he thought. He glanced down his body. Glistening, rotting flesh spread before him and the urge to throw up overcame him. Wings flapped behind him in encouragement before he heaved on the ground next to him. Nothing came. He gasped for air he did not need, dust filling his lungs, causing him to cough violently. "Where am I?" he asked aloud.
"The shinigami realm," a strong voice answered. "You are a god of death. I have named you 'Ryuk'." 
Ryuk turned to the voice to find a golden, skeletal figure encrusted with many jewels.
"Who are you?"
"I am your king. I am your creator."
Ryuk raised a brow.
"I don't know why you'd create another god of death when you're already king but whatever."
The king frowned.
"That attitude might get you in trouble."
Ryuk smirked as he replied, "You're the one that created me, so I guess you should've done a better job."
Jewels flashed brightly when the king glared at the new shinigami.
"What comes is out of my control." He sighed. "Our job is to rule over many realms and kill humans. Lately they've been doing that job well enough for themselves so we hardly do that anymore. However, we have a job to do and that is why I am giving you this."
The new shinigami was handed a black book. "Death Note?" he read.
"Yes. This is the tool we use to fulfil our purpose. Come. Let me teach you, new one..." 
*FLASHBACK END*
"I guess I can," Ryuk thought aloud.
(Y/n) moved out of the way as he moved towards the artificial rain. Warm flowed over him, covering him, drenching him in the bliss of what it was like to be clean. "So, yeah, humans find water satisfying," (y/n) elaborated, "but I guess you already figured that out by the look you have on your face right now." Ryuk opened an eye to glance at her. "I'm not a pervert when I say this, but tell me next time when you take a shower." She smirked, leaning on the shower wall. "I thought you said to let you know so you could leave the house."
"I said to let me know when you sing. It really does suck by the way."
Crimson covered (y/n)'s face as she exclaimed, "It's not that bad! Others sing worse than I do! Sayu said it was okay!"
Ryuk sighed teasingly. "Ever notice that Ms. Yagami always takes breakfast downtown and how Sayu asked for the morning shift when you moved in?"
(Y/n)'s jaw dropped. She closed it and looked at her feet. "Oh...I didn't realize...wow."
"I could give you lessons, if you'd like."
Her eyes grew wide. "You can sing?"
Ryuk rolled his eyes, regretting he said a word. "Yes, I can sing."
"Is this, like, something all shinigami can do or just you?" she asked excitedly.
"Now that Rem is supposedly dead, it's just me as far as I'm concerned."
(Y/n) squealed in delight and jumped up and down. "It's like Phantom of the Opera!! Ohmygoshthisissocool!!!"
Ryuk's face heated at the sight and squeezed his eyes shut hurriedly.
"(Y/n)."
"Yeah?" she answered, still jumping.
"Stop jumping."
"Why?"
"One: because it is dangerous; and two: you're not wearing any clothes..."