Reincarnated as a Therapist (In a world without Therapist)

"Eichi.." Ryuji said in shock. As he got onto the bridge he got to get a good look at Eichi. He was a tall man, handsome, with long black hair, his clothes were beautifully tailored and put together. They had mixes of white and black, giving off the feeling of both a wedding, and a funeral. He looked different than the last time they had seen each other. Just before Eichi…died…he was skinny, pale, not well kept by any means. He looked like his life had been drained from him. That was not the man standing before Ryuji, this was the Eichi he had always hoped to see. One full of life and joy. "Eichi is it really you…" Ryuji asked.

"Ive missed you brother," Eichi said, a tear running down his eye. Without thinking Ryuji immediately hugged him. The two of them held each other in a warm embrace. Tears streamed down Ryuji's face. He had missed his brother. It had been almost 30 years since…

"Eichi, how are you here?" Ryuji asked, pulling away from the hug.

"It's more of the other way around Ryuji, it's more about how you are here," Eichi said. That's when Ryuji remembered; the fall. He looked at himself, expecting to be ethereal or see through but he just looked like his normal self. 

"Am I…dead?" Ryuji asked.

"Almost…but not quite. If you had died then we would be having a very different conversation right now," Eichi said.

"Then if I'm not dead, where am I?" Ryuji asked.

"You are in a liminal space that I have created. But the projections are you. Not going to lie the frog with the shamisen was weird to me…" Eichi said. They both looked at the frog who continued to play a tune. 

"I think I saw it in a lofi video once…he looked so peaceful and comfortable. I guess my subconsciousness associated him with peace," Ryuji said. He looked at the frog, it continued to play but turned one of its eyes toward him and winked, it made him uncomfortable. Ryuji shook of the discomfort and looked at Eichi, "why am I here Eichi?"

"I met with the council as quickly as I could and we decided that you were the right candidate," Eichi said.

"Council? The right candidate?" Ryuji said, his head was still reeling, "Eichi what are you talking about?" 

Eichi shook his head, " That is to much for now, Let's talk more inside," Eichi said, he snapped his fingers and suddenly the space shifted. The energy was still there, the cozy atmosphere but the location had changed. They now seemed to be inside the house that they had been staring at from the outside. Eichi sat at a large desk with a massive amount of paperwork in front of him. Old looking scrolls and ancient pieces of parchment adorned the desk. Ryuji was kneeling on the floor for some reason, but when he tried to stand up, he found that he couldn't. "I suppose some introductions are in order," Eichi said, "I know you know me as Eichi but that is only half of the truth. A lot has changed in the last…well 30 years for you…I am still the one you know as Eichi but I use a different name here," Eichi said sitting down at the desk. He looked over it to look down at Ryuji, "Enma." 

Enma? Ryuji thought to himself. He had heard that name before. Before he would go to work, he would sometimes turn on the tv and watch something while he ate before heading to the office. He didn't really care what was on, it was more so about the background noise than anything else. There was this one show he watched called YuYuHakusho. Weirdly enough in it, a boy had died and was recruited by the lord of the dead, a spirit hunter. If he remembered correctly, the lord of the dead was named Enma. 

"So you are the lord of the dead?" Ryuji asked. He didn't know if that's what Eichi was hinting at but Eichi seemed like he was making a big reveal and Ryuji didn't want to ruin that for him. 

Eichi smiled and nodded, "when I died, I was brought to the land of the dead. Usually for people who commit suicide they are convicted to a certain level of hell, but Enma took pity on me."

"But aren't you Enma?" Ryuji asked. He wasn't trying to be condescending, he just wanted to show he was listening.

"It's a title. It's passed down through the ages. I am currently the holder of the title after training with the previous Enma," Eichi said. 

"Wow Eichi!" Ryuji said, "that's amazing I'm really proud of you! And you said you would never make anything of yourself!" There was an awkward silence for a moment. Eichi sighed and wiped his face with his hands. Was Ryuji missing something? If so he couldn't tell. He felt a sense of pride, like my little brother is the lord of he dead! He smiled contently with brotherly joy.. 

"The point is, I have been watching you ever since my appointment as Enma," Eichi said, ignoring Ryuji, "I obviously wanted to check on my brother, but the way you carried yourself sparked the interest of others. Myself and the council have been impressed with the countless hours you have spent trying to care for those who had never felt care themselves."

Ryuji rubbed his head bashfully, "well it's part of the job Eichi, I mean I'm a therapist. I wouldn't be a very good one if I didn't try to take care of my clients." This was a very cookie-cutter response for Ryuji. He knew this was the truth of the job but it wasn't always the way he felt, he would be lying if he said that he cared for his clients recently. Over the past few years this had felt more like a job rather than a service. Ryuji had been wrapped up in the success of his practice rather than the people he had been serving.

"Is this part of the job?" Eichi asked. He pointed to the left of him and images appeared around the room. They appeared out of thin air, they floated around the room showing different moments in Ryuji's life. One showed the time he let one of his young clients who was kicked out of their house stay with him, another showed the time he began to cook meals for one of his anorexic clients to give her incentive to eat, another the time he took on a client who couldn't pay, and covered their cost by having him work as Ryuji's assistant; even earning him a salary. Every image was a moment in his life where he did something for someone that he didn't have to do. 

"Altruism," Eichi said, "the amount of kindness you have shown people in your life is…inspiring Ryuji." Ryuji rejected Eichi notion but of all the images, two stood out the most. One was very recent, it was Ryuji on the roof with Toshinori, trying to coax him down. Wouldn't anyone have done that for him? It didn't make him special. Anyone would have tried to stop Toshinori from jumping…right? The other was probably the most prevalent. It was a much younger Ryuji standing in front of a young Eichi. A fierce and angry looking dog was snarling at the two of them, but Ryuji stood in the way. Ryuji remembered this moment well. It was the moment he protected his brother at the cost of feeling in his arm. Ryuji rubbed the spot where the dog had bitten him. Even after all this time and the damaged nerve ending, the phantom of pain remained. "You were going to be one of the best Ryuji," Eichi said, Ryuji didn't meet his eyeline, he continued to rub his arm, "if you hadn't protected me that day, you would be…"

"Why are you showing me this?" Ryuji said, trying not to snap but realizing it came across that way, "I'm an old man now. What is this all to prove?" 

Eichi grabbed a piece of parchment from the desk and then walked around to his brother's side, "myself and my council have determined that you are the right candidate for what we need," Eichi said, handing Ryuji the parchment. Ryuji, he finally was able to stand, took it and stared at the heading with confusion. It read:

Rite of Versal Displacement