Heartbreak
A shinigami must obey the rules. Most of the rules were rather simple and much like any other job's. A shinigami had to be punctual, had to work quickly and coldly, without a smile. He had to reap the souls on the list assigned to him. But sometimes, it was difficult to determine who suffered more; the victim, or the shinigami.
William T. Spears sighed almost inaudibly as he gazed at the stack of papers on his desk. It was late and he was tired. He wanted nothing more than to go home, shower, and read a good book before bed. However, this particular assignment was not one that he looked forward to. He stood and paced around his silent office, trying to decide which of his subordinates would have to commit this ghastly deed.
The soul in question had to be reaped by morning, for a sickness had claimed the body. She would die and her soul collected and sorted, just like all the others. The problem was in that she was only a child, of five years old. Had she been older, there would have been no question. The assignment would have been given to whichever shinigami was not already working on another. For even though it was their jobs, not one of his employees ever liked taking a child's soul.
As he paced, listening to to quiet steady tapping of his shoes on the hard floor, he thought about his dilemma. Alan Humphries was entirely out of the question, for the Thorns of Death had weakened him again and he was at home, recovering. Eric Slingby had taken a few personal days off, to help take care of his sick friend. Even though William was irritated by Eric's lack of work ethic, he respected their friendship and the constant love and patience that went into it.
He felt a shudder rising from deep within him, and suppressed it. He was a supervisor, dammit. This was part of his job. His employees had to learn to get over their weaknesses. All humans die eventually and it was their job to collect the souls. But still, even William, with his cold demeanor, couldn't help but feel guilty when he saw the look in their eyes when they returned from an assignment like this. Each one of them, even the normally loud and obnoxious Grell Sutcliff, would come in, plop their report on his desk silently and walk out, without a word.
Hm, he thought, perhaps he could send Ronald Knox out on this assignment. The reaper already drowned himself in women and booze, maybe it wouldn't make a lasting impact. He'd likely drink and have sex until he forgot all about it. Then, with a pang of regret, William remembered that he had sent the young man on an opium-overdose case.
Which meant that there was only one option left. He would have to send Grell Sutcliff on this most wretched of cases. The redhead was definitely not his first choice, but he was the only one available. William suddenly hated being short-staffed with a renewed vigor. If the East London Division had as many shinigami working for it as the other divisions, he could easily send some peon out to deal with it, without having to deal with the guilt, but that was not the case.
William went back to his desk and grabbed the assignment quickly, ready to get this over with. He opened the door to the office and proceeded down the dim halls. It was late, and most of the others had gone home already. He knew that Grell was still on the clock, most likely goofing off or flirting with the new recruits, when he was supposed to be finishing his late reports. Honestly, why couldn't that dense idiot just do his job?
He came to Grell's office. The moron had gotten an office only because he distracted the others from their work and because he had been on the job for longer than many of the others. William lightly rapped on Grell's closed office door, but heard nothing for a response. He leaned closer and listened carefully. Was Grell even in there? Trying the doorknob, he found that it was unlocked and he opened it carefully.
Grell's office was unusual to say the least, he was rather clean and tidy, but insisted on keeping little trinkets scattered about. He had furnished the office almost entirely in red, much to William's dismay, but he had paid for it himself, so it had no impact on the budget at least. He found the redhead asleep behind his desk, leaning his head over the back of the chair, snoring quietly, a stack of unfinished reports in front of him. William resisted the urge to shove him out of the chair and looked down at the paperwork. At least he was trying to finish it, Will thought, before picking up one report and seeing his own name written in red pen, with a big heart doodled around it. The supervisor felt his eye twitch in annoyance and proceeded to shove Grell out of his chair and onto the floor with a thump.
"Ow! What the hell?" the reaper whined, rubbing his hurt backside.
"Grell Sutcliff, you have a new assignment." Will began.
Grell jumped up and threw his arms around William. "Oh, Will~! I was just having the best dream. You and I were on safari in Africa, watching the lions and.."
"It will never happen." he replied quickly, then changed the subject back to work. "You must complete this assignment by five in the morning. It shouldn't take long."
Grell pouted as the paper was shoved in his face. "You shouldn't work a lady so hard. I need my beauty sleep, you know."
"Sleeping on the clock is not permitted. Get to work." the dark haired man said simply, and turned, secretly wanting to leave before Grell read the assignment.
Grell took the paper reluctantly and began to read it, his green eyes widening in dismay.
"But Will..." the reaper's normally cheerful voice had taken a rather serious tone.
"What is it?" Will asked, already knowing what the problem was, without turning around.
"I...I can't do this one. She's...she's still a baby." Grell stammered a little, hoping his heartless boss would take pity.
"You are the only one available. Ronald Knox is busy with another mission. Alan Humphries is ill and Eric Slingby has taken a couple of personal days off." William said, staring into nothingness.
"But, please Will, please, I don't want to do this one." the redhead begged, his gloved hand on William's shoulder.
"It needs to be completed by five." William said coldly, looking at his subordinate.
The reaper's green eyes were filled with pain, and nothing, not even his gaudy red glasses, would hide that. Will clenched his fist, hoping he could stand his ground against the pathetic pleas of his employee. Grell looked down, his bangs hiding much of his face, knowing he couldn't weasel out of it.
"Alright, Will." his voice, somber and quiet. "I'll have the report on your desk in the morning."
"Good. I'm going home for the night. You may go home after you finish."
Grell's hands hung helplessly at his sides and he nodded without a word. William couldn't bear to see him like this, and left the office quickly, the sound of the door slamming shut echoing in the still air.
William had always been a serious man, his job and his duties always coming first. It was part of the job, he reminded himself. But he still didn't like having to force the others to do such horrible things. William quietly returned to his office, filed away the paperwork for the night and locked up, wondering if he would see that report from Grell on his desk in the morning.