I finally posted it! It's been about a year since I wrote this. It was supposed to be a secret Santa thing but...I may have lost it... But I still hope that you enjoy it!
For most death gods, working at London's division of the Shinigami Dispatch Association was not a bad place to work; it was the most desired job to have in London for death gods at the absolute least. There was almost never unpaid overtime, they were paid very well, and the hours were fairly reasonable. For a select few, though, the workplace which they had used to consider their second home had come to feel like it was run by demons. Considering how much shinigamis hated demons, it took a lot for one to use that as an insult.
"How could the higher-ups do this to me? It's cruel, it's unnecessary, and not to mention, sexist!" Atsui mumbled to herself, her red heels making a clicking noise against the tile floor as she carried a box filled with her belongings down the long hallway. "I didn't even do anything wrong! I always handed in my paperwork on time, sometimes even early, I never argued with anybody, I got straight As' during my training..."
"Geez, Atsui! If you get any angrier, that red hair of yours will actually catch on fire!" Atsui turned around and smiled when she saw a familiar, orange-haired apprentice reaper running to catch up with her.
"Hey, Ronald!" she said, smiling a little. "Is it lunch break already?" He slowed down match her pace and replied to her question with a curt nod. His curious, wandering eyes found his way towards the box in her arms, where they remained for about a minute before his hands greedily snatched away the cover without question.
Atsui rolled her eyes, but remained quiet as Ronald slowly began to put the pieces together in his mind.
"You got fired?!" Ronald exclaimed, his eyes widening as he slid the lid back on the box. "B-but they can't fire you! If it wasn't for you, I never would have figured out which death scythe I worked best with! Plus, you never threaten me or roll your eyes at me if I try to flirt with you!" Atsui giggled. "And you and sempai helped each other pick out your death scythes, too!"
The duo suddenly stopped in their tracks and looked at each other. "Oh no...What if Grell finds out what happened before you leave? He's gonna flip out! C'mon, maybe if we're lucky, you can leave before he finds out!"
"No..." Atsui whined. "If he isn't out doing fieldwork, he always comes looking for me once lunch break starts. And he never has fieldwork on Mondays... He has probably already left my office by now and is running around looking for me."
Ronald lightly pushed his hand against her back, urging her to start walking again.
"Than we need to hurry!" The two of them quickly made their way down the long hallway. She wanted to talk to Grell so badly;she had something important she wanted to tell him, but not now. He was always a joy to be around and he always made her happy. She really didn't wanna admit it to anybody, but she had a crush on him. Atsui knew that he would be so upset to see her leaving and she really didn't wanna see Grell sad.
Well, at least one really good thing came out of getting fired, but she wasn't sure if she had enough courage to go through with it.
"ATSUI!" Grell called out from behind them, waving his hand as he ran down the hallway to catch up. Atsui stopped and lowered her head in defeat.
Grell came up behind her and gently placed a gloved hand on her shoulder. "Atsui, is what I heard true? You didn't really get fired, did you?" Atsui didn't reply. Instead, she kept her head ducked down and hunched up her shoulders, avoiding the question. Grell gently reached his hand under her chin and turned her head so she would look at him. "Atsui" he repeated, not letting go of her chin. "Did they really fire you?"
Atsui looked into his eyes, tears starting to form in her own.
"...Yes."
"Well, it must be a mistake!" Grell let go of her chin and instead grabbed her hand and began to drag her in the opposite direction. "C'mon! We can sort out this problem!"
"Grell" she sighed, readjusting the box in her other hand so she wouldn't drop it. He ignored her and continued dragging her away. "Grell!"
He still didn't let go. "GRELL!" Atsui screamed out, causing him and everybody else in the hallway to flinch. Grell stood still and wordlessly stared at her. "Trust me, I thought it was a mistake too at first. I checked. They told me it wasn't." Grell's hand slowly slipped out of hers.
"But..." He said sadly. "That can't be true! You never did anything wrong! Plus..." his face turned almost as red as his hair. "you're the coolest female shinigami I know."
She quickly noticed the sadness in his eyes, so she shoved the box into Ronald's hands and gave Grell a hug. The two of them, with their flaming red hair, clothes, and glasses probably looked like a fire from a distance, passionately burning with both love and sadness.
"Thanks, Grell...but there isn't really anything you can do about it now..." He wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I'm really going to miss seeing you at work, hon."
"Me too..." They stood there for a while, ignoring the glances all the other shinigamis gave as they passed by.
One of them, though, was keen on getting their attention and cleared his throat very loudly.
"No public displays of affection Mr. Sutcliff and Ms.-"
"Mr. Spears," Atsui snapped, glaring at him. "I no longer work here, so if you address me by my last name, I will go over there and snap your neck." William flinched slightly, than readjusted his black-framed glasses with his scythe, a pair of hedge trimmers.
"Well then...Atsui. I was going to share my sympathy with you for getting fired, but it appears that no longer having to follow any rules makes you act so..."
"Feisty." Grell purred, finishing his sentence. Blushing furiously, she slipped out of his hug and took a step back. "Would you like to join us, Will? The two of us were just walking Atsui to the door to say goodbye!"
"No, thank you." he replied coldly. "I have much more important things to do."
Grell pouted as he watched William turn around without another word and walk away.
"Why does he always have to be so cruel?" Grell pouted. Atsui grabbed Grell's hand and practically dragged him back the other way as Ronald quickly followed with her things from her office.
"C'mon, Grell," she sighed. "I don't want either of the two of you to get in any trouble because of me." Grell looked at her, a little surprised, than smiled softly.
"You've always been such a sweetheart, Atsui. What made you decide to finally start standing up for yourself?"
Atsui smiled.
"I just really don't like people being so formal and strict about everything." She turned to wink at him, than faced forward again. "That's one of the many reasons why I love talking to you." Atsui stopped when they reached the front doors, her expression suddenly becoming very grave. She slowly walked up to Ronald and took the box out of his hands, just to have him immediately wrap her in a tight hug.
"I'll miss you so much, Atsui!" He whined loudly. "I promise that I will try to keep in touch with you; we can hang out al the time!"
The two of them giggled, then separated. Grell silently held the door open for her, looking a lot sadder than she did. When Atsui walked out the door, Grell followed her out, but Ronald turned around and left, feeling that it was best to leave the two of them alone. Grell ran up to Atsui and hugged her from behind.
"Atsui, I'm going to visit you every day, rain or shine!" Grell cried out. Her turned her around to look her in the eyes and blushed slightly. "You know...I think you may be the only woman I have ever had a crush on..." He smiled softly, showing off his shark-like teeth.
Atsui silently stepped around Grell and slowly began to walk away, leaving Grell feeling crushed.
"Hey, Grell?" She asked, turning around and smiling at him. "Do you remember Rule #357?"
"You should know that I've never read that handbook, hon."
"Rule #357 states that no two employees, no matter what their status is, may 'date' each other under any circumstances." She winked at Grell, then began to walk away again, leaving him stunned.
Suddenly, he smiled in victory. "Hey, Atsui!" he called out. She stopped and turned around again. "I'll see you tonight at 6." he purred. Atsui giggled.
"Sounds like a date, then!" She yelled back as she began to walk away.
Atsui always believed that when the time came that she had to stop working for the Dispatch Association, it would be one of the saddest days of her life and she would feel so depressed. But, as she walked away from her job for the very last time, listening to Grell calling out 'bye, darling!' and 'see you tonight' in the distance, she could only smile and think: I am the luckiest shinigami in the world.
Please feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think! Also, if you have an idea for a one-shot and would like me to write it, I would love to try and see if I can find the time to write it and post it on here!