#kai schmutz

[gravediggerkai]

Prompt 1/30

This one was a little bit rushed, so sorry for the lackluster quality. TW: Dead pets.

The routine of Kai Schmutz, the Ultimate Gravedigger, was a simple one. His mornings began with a large cup of black coffee, usually after having spent the whole night before digging. He would head to class where, while he wasn’t the smartest, he still did his best. He had been given an amazing opportunity at Hope’s Peak after all. How could he let the people who gave him this down? His lunch break would be spent in the Hope’s Peak gardens, helping the Ultimate Gardener and Ultimate Florist as much as he possibly could. Of course, he had another large black coffee. And finally, when classes were over, he would either go spend time at the local graveyard or help anyone who had given him a specific request. Those requests were rare however. His talent was all about death, so people dreaded ever needing his help. Most students did their best to ignore the boy, pretend he wasn’t there. With his short height, this was suprisingly easy. But every now and again, the boy did get a request. Usually they were from one of the nature related talents or someone who had heard of the boy’s suprisingly good fighting skills and wanted to spar with him. That blue haired boy with that cards had been a weird request. But this time, this time it was different. These were the requests that required Kai’s specific talent. He hated these requests, not because he hated helping people, but because his services were even needed at all. Unlike what some would think, Kai… Kai hated death. After class had ended, Kai had gone straight to his locker to get his boots. His plan for today was to check out gravestone in the middle of restoration was doing, to clean up the student park with the Ultimate Volunteer and to go the local graveyard and plant some new flowers. But when a note dropped out of his locker, Kai already knew he was going to have to cancel those plans. He had received a few fake notes in the past, people who read long and sappy love confessions, only for it to turn out to be a prank. He didn’t mind showing up to those anyway. If there really was someone, he could politely decline them. If it was just a prank, then at least someone could enjoy it. He didn’t get the joke, but if they did, good for them. The note he received in his locker was a very polite but straight to the point request by a young woman known as Yuki, the Ultimate Pet Groomer. Kai read the note calmly, ignoring the curious whispers around him. To those that didn’t know him, it might seem like a love confession letter, but it was so much more serious than that. Once he knew what he needed to do, Kai went straight to the staff lounge. He gripped onto his shovel tightly as he moved through the sea of people like a drop of oil through water, close, but just barely not touching. His small size was actually quite useful for this, though he would never actually admit that. The whole thing with his size was a double edged sword. It made people less likely to notice him and be bothered by him, which may the boy happy, but it also caused people to take him less seriously when he really should. It was one of the reasons why he rarely showed any emotion on his face. As long as he kept up the serious look, people would take him seriously. After having crossed the sea of people, Kai stepped into the staff lounge where he went to ask for a very strange request, that was somehow approved off. An hour or so later, Kai would find himself in one of the most beautiful areas of all of Hope’s peak, the flower garden. There was a specific spot in the flower garden where white and black roses collided to form a sea of white with black dots. Or was it black with white dots? The boy wondered a little about this while he dug a hole in the middle of this bed of flowers. After a few minutes of waiting, a nervous young woman arrived with something large wrapped in a beautiful white linen sheet. Kai already knew what it was. He didn’t need the letter or the woman to tell him, as this wasn’t the first time he had buried someone’s pet. Knowing what breed the dog was had been useful, as because of that, he was able to find the perfect spot for the labrador. Kai nearly smiled to himself as he thought about how the dog might like being between white and black flowers, how it could sneakily hide between them before popping up with a jump, but Kai didn’t smile. It wasn’t the right time for that. The ceremony was simple and quiet. The girl laid the dog in it’s sheet down into the hole and prayed softly to herself, while Kai filled the hole. He put a few of the flowers he had to cut down onto the grave. They were laid down in the shape of a black and white heart, which brought a smile to the girl’s face. The two of them quietly sat down at a nearby bench, before the girl suddenly burst out into tears. She clinged onto Kai, who while he usually didn’t like being touched, didn’t mind this time around. The girl needed someone to cry on after all. He knew that. Why would he take that away from her? “Aren’t you supposed to say something?” There was a hint of anger in her voice, but Kai knew she wasn’t truly angry at him. This was just one of the many steps of grief. “Like that he’s going to be alright? Or that he’s in a better place now?” “Do you believe that?” Kai’s voice was calm and peaceful as he held onto the girl. “Do you believe he’s in a better place? I don’t know myself. I don’t think I can ever know.” “Isn’t it your job to say what people should do when they grieve? How can you not know?” The girl was more confused than she was angry, but Kai didn’t mind. The boy pulled her closer into the hug, letting her rest her head against his chest and listen to his heartbeat. It was slow yet… Peacefully hypnotic. Kai continued to gently move his hand through her hair, before explaining. “I’m sorry, but I can’t… Choose how you grieve or what you believe… That is not for me to do… The only thing I can do for you is to help you along the steps… If you need to be angry at someone… You can be angry at me… If you need to cry onto someone… You can cry on me… That’s what I’m here for.” The two went quiet. Even after all these years, Kai never really knew what to say, or if he said was really the right thing to say. How could he know? It wasn’t like he was the one grieving. They would spend the rest of the day there, until the girl finally let go and gave him a quiet thank you. And with that, to Kai, it was all worth it.

Another writing thing for @royal-despair

[gravediggerkai]

Prompt 2/30

I was a little bit late with this one, but oh well.

When Kai arrived at his favorite restaurant in all of Germany, his body had finally convinced his mind to take a break from all the walking and such. One of the hardest parts of the boy’s job was traveling. Since his father had never decided to buy a car, Kai went to most graveyards either by bike or by foot. Ones that were in tough locations, such as the one he was currently heading to, could take a few days, during which he would miss school, work and home. But to him, it was worth it. His current job was to head to a small secluded graveyard at the top of a mountain and fix some of the lighting and decorations there, as well as general upkeep of the graveyard. Most would ask compensation or anything of the sort for this work, but Kai gladly did it for free. He didn’t care much about money, rewards or breaks- but after 7 hours of walking, he needed one. The restaurant he found himself at was a cute little family owned cabin known as ‘Der Fegefeuer’, translated to ‘The Purgatory’. While the name may hint at something scary or evil, it was actually a very calm and cute little restaurant, which Kai loved to visit. The coffee they had there was absolutely amazing. Maybe it was a special kind of bean they used, or fresh spring water, or maybe it was a family recipe? Whatever it was, he was in love with it. The boy took his usual spot in the very back of the restaurant, on a large old brown couch. While most people avoided this spot, Kai loved it. It was private, comfortable, quiet and he nearly blended in with the wall when he had his hood on, so he would be a bother to nobody. Usually, the only person that even knew he was there was his favorite waiter, a young but ridiculously tall woman by the name of Angelika. Speaking of her however, where was she? By now, he would have already gotten a surprise hug from behind and been lifted up in the air. He wasn’t particularly a fan of that, but he had grown used to it by now. So what was going on? And then it hit him. Just a week prior, he had helped the girl plan her grandmother’s funeral, which was… Today. The memories of him helping her shot through his mind. In a way, he was fond of those memories and the time they spent together, but he was sad they even had to spend that time together to begin with. The boy quietly looked around and noticed that the restaurant was in worse shape than usual. Normally, he didn’t mind at all, since he had no right to talk about keeping yourself or something you own clean. But this time around, it was a bit strange. A lot of the lights were messed up, decorations missing and the owner was walking around quite stressed. He didn’t mean to listen in to what the man was mumbling to himself, but the man hadn’t noticed Kai at all and thought he was just speaking to himself. Interrupting him would be quite rude. From what the gravedigger could gather from the man’s mumbling, they were in the middle of a renovation, but because of a few factors, including the funeral Angelika was going to, everything they needed would only arrive tomorrow. Even worse, they were short on staff. They might just have to close the restaurant for the day. Kai hesitated a little bit, before he went to offer his services to the man. When guests arrived at ‘Der Fegefeuer’ that night, they would be shocked to find a whole new atmosphere in the building. The restaurant was dark, only a few dim white lights and candle lights were scattered around the building. The staff, including a strange looking short boy, who seemed to somehow carry the presence of death on his shoulder, were dressed in pure white. The usual colourful flowers had been replaced with white and black ones, which Kai had personally gathered. While it was a little scary at first, there was a kind of peace and warmth to it all, one that the restaurant had always had, but was now clear as day. At times, guests would wonder if this was really the restaurant they had always known, if they hadn’t stepped into something else, something a bit more supernatural. The presence of the young boy didn’t help either. But even if they had, most of them felt… At peace here. When the guests left that night, some turned back and wondered if the restaurant would be the same if they stepped inside again. And if it was, could they ever leave again? The day after, everything was back to normal. The decorations, the staff and the whole mod were like they used to be. And just for fun, the owner swore the restaurant had been closed the whole night. Kai wouldn’t find out about this though, as he had left first thing in the morning. But maybe, just maybe, he would find it a little funny. My first writing thing for @royal-despair I hope you guys liked it!