Every day was the same. He would walk into his office, but often being at least one minute late because he would be waylaid by Grelle and then by Ronald because he wanted to ask if he really had to do that overtime on Friday because he was going out on a group date.
But today was different. He knew he was getting a new work partner, since all that stuff with Grelle happened, regarding the foul demon Sebastian Michaelis and his little brat, Earl Phantomhive. And to be honest, he was just about to request a new transfer. Grelle was an absolute piss take and completely useless, as far as he was concerned. He would have to share an apartment with this new partner, so he hoped it was someone sensible and hardworking (preferably male because he didn't fancy having to live with a girl) who kept everything neat and tidy. Someone like him. And the funny thing was, for someone who usually got everything he wanted from his seniors, he felt like things would be very different.
He opened the door and walked in. That was when he decided the world was really shit.
There was a woman sitting on his desk - not even a woman. She was practically a girl. Melody Robin, it had said on the file. A pretentious and unnecessarily flamboyant name.
"You're Melody Robin?" he asked, his voice expressionless, stopping in front of her.
"Yes," she said. "You're William T. Spears?" She was equally as expressionless. He looked at her. He noticed, but very quickly tried to block the thought out, that she was very pretty. She wasn't blonde-and-make-up type pretty, she was just very pretty. She pale, small and skinny, so thin and delicate he thought that he could probably break her into pieces with one knock of his death scythe. She had long brown hair that was tied into two odango at the top and pigtails coming out of them, just like Sailor Moon's hair but not blonde. William didn't read comics and didn't watch anime but he knew of Sailor Moon. She was dressed in a smart black skirted suit and she was as neat as ninepence. But there were differences about her to other reapers. She did not wear glasses. Her eyes were not bright green, they were bright red. Like a demon's. He scowled at her, and tried not to blush at all. He hated any colour coming to his cheeks. It was unseemly and looked stupid. Just like she did.
"You'll have to get rid of that ridiculous hairstyle," he nodded at the odango and pigtails.
"Its my mums hairstyle," she replied, her voice quiet.
"I don't care whose hairstyle it is, you'll have to get rid of it," he replied, irritated. Here was a stubborn one.
"I'm not getting rid of it."
His face became even more irritated-looking. He hated people like this. And he had to work with this girl for the rest of his life, unless she screwed up big time. Which she probably would.
"That's an ugly scowl," she said, "Lighten up, will you?"
She looked pretty depressed herself, not angry but sad. He didn't care. Bringing emotions into work was a waste of time.
"It doesn't matter what my face looks like."
She reached out and with her two index fingers lifted the corners of his mouth a little. He stayed scowling. She sighed and her hands dropped.
"No one is happy here, are they?" she whispered. "I thought I would finally have a place to be happy in."
"Why are your eyes red?" he snapped.
"Because they just are," she said, but not like she was being rude. Like she had no other explanation.
"And why do you not wear glasses?" he practically snapped, because he was ultra-annoyed now.
"I don't need to."
"Every reaper needs glasses."
"I don't," she said simply, "The glasses man, Pops, said I don't need any corrective lenses."
He couldn't argue with this. He nodded. "Fine."
But it wasn't fine. It wasn't fine at all. She was so irritating, and he wasn't completely sure why. She didn't wear glasses and she didn't have green eyes. She had a ridiculous hairstyle. Well, it looked good on her… but he couldn't let that get in the way. He couldn't let her have a stupid hairstyle.
"Get to work," he said, finally giving up on reasoning with her. She was a stubborn one… rather like himself.
"Yes, sir," she said, and took the file from him.
He stared at her, one eyebrow raised. He wasn't sure whether she was taking the mickey out of him. "No need for 'sir.' Since we are working partners, you should really call me William."
She looked up from the file she was flipping through, and pulled a face. "Hmm. William. William, William, William. It doesn't really agree with him. There's no ring to it. I think I'll call you Will."
Will? Was she joking?
"I do prefer William," he said rather stiffly, feeling awkward.
"I prefer Will," she replied, "We'll get on better if I call you Will, I think."
"Bringing emotions into work is a waste of time," he said, pushing his glasses up and tapping his death scythe on the floor. She had a death scythe in the form of a sword. At least it was traditional and not something absolutely ridiculous like that idiot Sutcliffe's death scythe. A chainsaw. Really!
The other annoying thing is that Melody worked very well. She was extremely quick and capable and she worked harder than any of the other partners he'd had. He worked with her through the morning until lunchtime, and the whole time she made no effort to talk to him anymore, and he made no effort to talk to her either. If she wouldn't talk, either would he. Well, she spoke once. She asked, "Can I try on your glasses?" and he just raised his eyebrows and she left it. That was it.
At lunchtime, they went to the hall. She did sit on Will's table, but hardly spoke to him. She seemed to already be good friends with Ronald Knox, that kid who was obsessed with dating and socialising. At least he got his work done, that was what mattered. She smiled and laughed as she chatted away to him. They had inside jokes and all of that. Grelle even came to their table to talk to her. There was a girl called Mina who worked in the administrative department, who Melody said they were best friends. She had blonde hair but wore it in pigtails and minimal make up. Will had never really spoken to her before, but she was nice too.
It turned out that Melody and Mina had known each other for years, and that Mina was actually Ronald's twin sister. He'd heard Ronald mention a twin before, but he never really listened much. He was too busy. Melody was apparently orphaned as a young girl and went to live with Ronald and Mina after their parents took her in.
"So, Will, what do we have to do after lunch? Is there still much work?"
"There is -" he began, until Ronald went, "Will? We all call him William."
"Well, I call him Will," Melody replied, smiling. And so she did. And so he muttered to Ronald, "She has eyes like a demon's. A dirty demon."
Ronald elbowed him, but the stare in her crimson eyes told him that she had already heard.
He found her particularly annoying back at the apartment they were to share. Of course, she had already had time to decorate her room, and put her things in there. He looked in there and saw that she had painted her walls pink. She had flowery light fittings and there was a single bed and a big bookcase absolutely full of books. There was another pile of books next to her closet, which was white but she'd painted two huge anime characters on it… he was guessing it was Sailor Moon and her love interest, Tuxedo Mask. It was a very good painting, too. Her dressing gown was left lying on her bed. It was made of fluffy blue stuff with a black cat's head on each pocket.
Melody was watching the TV before he could even get to the remote. She was watching some anime show, the one about the demon butler and his young teenage master. She was curled up on one end of the sofa, a blanket wrapped right round her.
"Pass the remote," he said, colourlessly.
"Please?" she replied, smiling slightly. "Remember your manners."
He shook his head disbelievingly. He didn't know how to handle this girl. He would have to ask Mina sometime.
"I usually watch the news around this time," he sighed, sitting on the other side of the sofa. He was sitting a little close to her than he would have liked, her bare feet practically touching him. But it was a small sofa and it was his first, so he wasn't going to be pushed off it.
"I always watch my anime in the evenings," she said. "So ya boo sucks to you, Will."
She said all this without even looking at him. He knew how much he had ticked her off. He knew he shouldn't have said it but he couldn't help it. Her eyes were just like that noxious beast Sebastian Michaelis' eyes… except a lot prettier, framed by long black lashes. He shook himself free of this thought and said, "You could at least look at me when you speak to me. Where are your manners?"
"You wouldn't want to see my dirty demon eyes, would you?" she snapped, her eyes fixed on the screen.
He sighed. He did feel like a bastard for it. So he took his glasses off and leaned over. He very gently pushed them onto her face.
"There. You're trying them on now."
They were quite big for her, but she seemed delighted enough. She laughed when they tipped off her face, dangling from one ear. He found himself smiling but tried to stop as soon as possible. His vision was a bit dodgy, but however he could see her almost perfectly clearly. So when she was done having her fun with his glasses, she handed them back to him.
A little while later, she had fallen asleep on the sofa with the blanket wrapped around her. He wondered whether he should wake her up or not. She seemed to have forgiven him and he didn't want to cause anymore arguments. Instead, he left her there and watched her anime. It reality, it seemed, it was a good show.
