(Dedicated to them: For being absolutely amazing to the end and beyond. You may rest now old friend, and rest easy. Until we meet again.)

Cody had woken up the next morning, preparing for his journey to class. He turned on the TV, and the News Channel had been put on.

"So tell me Mr. Morimoto," the news reporter said, "What had happened?"

"It was a miracle," Mr. Morimoto said, "Some young man came by the piazza and saved my girlfriend's life. He had wanted me to take the honours of saving her, but that's just not right."

Cody threw the remote aside and sighed. 

"I should've expected that," Cody said.

"Wow, did you hear that folks?" The reporter asked, "It seems Eimwood may have their own hero out there."

Cody grabbed the remote again and turned it off.

"Don't like the attention?" Death asked.

"It's not that," Cody said, "They're just... they're really exaggerating this event as if I were godsend. I simply assessed the situation as anyone should."

"But perhaps, it was your calm demeanor that made people see you as a hero. Paramedics and doctors portray this when they save lives, making them appear to be heroes to the generic civilian."

"I suppose that's true," Cody said.

All of a sudden, a cat rubbed against Cody's leg and Cody smiled.

"What are you doing old boy?" Cody replied as he petted his cat amicably. The cat responded with purring and contentment and Death sighed.

"What? I'm allowed to have pets," Cody said, then turned to his cat, "I'm sorry, I have to go to classes. We can bond again later."

Cody dropped some cat treats onto the ground, put on his face mask and grabbed his backpack before heading to the nearest bus stop. After fifteen or so minutes, a bus had stopped by and picked him up. He then arrived to Eimwood University and attended his media studies lecture. The professor had asked if everyone in the back could hear her, and the students in the back agreed, and thus the lecture began.

Unlike last lecture, the students had to write some notes on the first topic of media studies.

"Before we begin, let's first define what media is," Meriam started, "Media is defined as the technologically developed communication industries that can transmit information across time and space to groups of people."

The lecture continued with an introductory to media, and the class followed the professor's words and her slides that she projected onto the white wall. For an hour or so, the class had gone over characteristics of media, along with a brief history in media evolution, before the lecture had ended.

"Where are you going?" Death asked Cody, "This isn't to your home."

"I was thinking of going out for dinner today," Cody said, "Enjoy the change of scen-"

Then they felt it. The call of death.

Cody approached the call, and was distraught when he was led to his home. Oh no. Cody opened his door, and began following the call once more. Inside, he found his cat on a couch, unable to catch its breath. Blood-filled urine bathed the floor in the kitchen, and his cat squeaked in pain when he repositioned himself. Cody felt his eyes well up.

"Death, please don't tell me," Cody said, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

"It is," Death said.

Cody got closer to his cat and fell to his knees. He scratched behind his cat's ears, like it had always enjoyed, but the cat didn't respond with affection. It simply kept wheezing. Tears streamed down Cody's face.

"I'm sorry," Cody mumbled, "I'm so sorry."

The cat continued wheezing and Cody looked into his pained eyes.

"Death, why must you take him?" Cody asked Death, "Why must you take everyone from us?"

Death sighed and replied, "Typical human response. When someone is dying, they make it out to be us who takes the life."

"Then what is it that you do?" Cody asked between sobs, "Well? WHAT IS IT!?"

"Emotional outbursts. Yes. We don't take lives, we move them onto the next life. See, everything dies in the mortal plane. Once something leaves the mortal plane, just know that it will forever be immortalized in the astral plane. Never to be forgotten, and always to be cherished."

"Really?" Cody asked, "Is that what you believe?"

"It's not what I believe in," Death replied, "It's simply fact."

Cody looked away from Death and back at his cat who wheezed heavily. 

"I don't like seeing you suffer," Cody replied as tears fell from his face, "I remember when we first got you that summer. Your owners refused to keep you when they moved. They looked for anyone to adopt you, or else they would put you down or abandon you. I couldn't imagine anyone who could do such a thing simply because they didn't want you."

Cody stroked his cat's head lightly and gasped sadly.

"It's bullshit that they would consider that. I adopted you and you were all I could've ever wanted. No, you are all I could ever want. You were my little ragdoll. The one that made me laugh, and warmed me with your affection. You woke me up from the sadness that followed my breakups."

The cat readjusted itself and screeched in pain, which made Cody breathe faster as anxiety and despair kicked in.

"I will always love you, no matter where you are, or what you are," Cody said, "And don't you ever forget that."

Cody put his two fingers onto his cat's forehead and pulled his soul from his broken body. The soul rubbed against Cody lovingly and looked at Death beside him.

Cody cried into the cushion of his couch and Death said, "You know what? Your cat's soul seems to prefer staying around here with you. I don't think I will take him anywhere."

Cody looked at his cat's corpse, and the blue soul of it that purred on the cushion beside it. He reached towards the soul and stroked his head lightly. Cody breathed easier.

"In all my time," Cody said, "I don't think I ever touched a soul."

"You haven't," Death said.

"It's cold," Cody said, "But you can still feel it's life. It lingers... It lingers."

Cody picked up his cat's corpse as if it were a swaddled child, and the soul of his cat jumped from the couch and rubbed against his leg. 

"Alright," Cody sighed sadly, "You decide where... you want to be buried."

Cody opened the door to his house and followed his cat's spirit. After what felt like an eternity, carrying the body of his cat, his cat's soul stopped by a tree and Cody sighed. He began digging a hole beside the tree and buried his cat there.

"It's like you know this place," Death said.

"I do," Cody replied sadly, "This was where his original owners met up with me to give him up."

The rushing waters of the river calmed the air around them and Cody's cat's soul jumped onto his shoulder and rubbed its head affectionately against his face. 

"It's sad, but funny in a way," Cody said.

"Oh?" Death replied.

"Most people would say goodbye to their pet after death and grieve. Maybe even hope that it was still around... somewhere. Since I am a reaper, I can see him still. I can feel his spirit near me, and see it physically. This isn't where his journey ends, as it continues beyond the mortal plane."

"Exactly," Death replied.

"You really do just help them transition."

Cody stroked his cat's head and smiled, "I'm glad you're still around."