Chapter 3: Getting To Know You

The next couple of days went pretty well. Undertaker had gotten to know the kids a little bit more and they had gotten to know him a little. From what he was able to gather, the red head, Grell, was curious and seemed to be interested in a lot of things. The blonde, Ronald, was a bit laid back, but he still had his fair share of energy. William on the other hand, was shy and didn't really like to talk much. That was just fine with Undertaker, though.

He was a bit worried at first because he didn't exactly know what they would think of him, which was strange since he didn't typically care what anyone though of him. Reaper Children were different from Human Children, however. A normal human child most likely wouldn't be able to stand the sight of him, but Reapers were different. Their tolerance was much higher than a humans, since they had already been reborn once and nothing really scared them anymore.

There was the occasional exception, however. Most Reapers tended to get pretty stoic, which was one of the reasons Undertaker had retired. He was just lucky that the children weren't the same way. "Mr. Undertaker, what's that?" The red headed Reaper asked, pointing at a jar filled with bone shaped cookies.

Undertaker smiled. "Those are cinnamon flavored cookies. You can take as many as you like."

Grell pulled one out of the jar and tried it. "It tastes good." Grell commented as he took another one.

"That's the entire point." Undertaker said.

"Mr. Undertaker, what is this?" Ronald asked from another area of the room.

Undertaker could see that he was referring to a coffin. "That is a coffin." Undertaker answered honestly.

"What is it for?" He asked curiously.

Undertaker found himself reluctant in answering. "Well, you see, they are a very important part of my job."

Ronald only shrugged. "I don't really see why, but okay."

Undertaker really didn't want to tell him the reason. It just didn't feel right to him, and he didn't know why. He was, however, surprised as he didn't expect them to be so curious about everything. Reapers weren't typically curious about anything, except for a select few. He found himself happy about the fact that they were curious, and he was sincerely hoping that they would stay this way.

Even though they were a bit smarter and wiser, they still didn't know most things, and it was now Undertaker's job to teach them, slowly but surely. Another thing about Reaper children, was that they were incredibly fast learners. They could easily pick things up and read between the lines, although sometimes, there were things that they struggled with, depending on the child.

Undertaker wasn't aware that any of them had such difficulties, but he hadn't read their files yet, so he couldn't know for sure. Overall, the last few days had been good, and Undertaker would hope for more good days like this.

Later on in the night, the children were fast asleep in their rooms. Undertaker was up, finishing his guest. He would have to hurry before his tiredness consumed him whole. Staying up till midnight was usually no problem for him, however. This was his last guest until another one was brought in, which wouldn't be until tomorrow. The children weren't oblivious to what his job was, they just never saw him do it. They figured that it made sense that a retired Reaper would continue to work with the dead.

If he wasn't done within the next thirty minutes, then he would consider retiring for the night. His latest guest had died of a gunshot wound. There were a lot of mafias that hung around in the Underworld, so dying of gunshot wounds weren't that uncommon. It just so happened the most of his guests were victims or members of the Underworld's mafias.

Of course there were others, such as victims of serial killers, and those who had come face to face with an unfortunate accident. Back when he worked on the field, he saw all sorts of deaths and reaped all kinds of souls. The world had a wide variety of each of those things. Despite what many legends about Grim Reapers said, they were not the ones who chose who died. That was the job of the higher ups, who gave them their lists.

They also did not possess people, making them want to commit suicide, contrary to Oriental beliefs, and any Reaper who went around killing people of their own accord would be punished. Undertaker had never done anything like that on the field, but he had known some Reapers who had, and it did not go well for them. He would never forget one experience in which some younger Reapers he had known tired t rebel against the Dispatch, and those of the Management Division were not at all thrilled.

It seemed to Undertaker that the higher a Reaper ranked in The Dispatch, the more stoic and serious they were. It was always such a tragedy. There was once a time when Undertaker became as high as the Management Division, and everyday, he was always surrounded by these stoic Reapers who never smiled, laughed, or anything.

As he was lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize as he had already finished his last guest. He decided to go ahead and retire for the night, as he was already pretty tired. He carefully inserted his guest inside a coffin, and then approached the one that he had picked out for himself.

Each and every one of those coffins were made from special wood imported all the way from Wales, and he put them together himself. He wouldn't think of using any other coffins for his guests, as the ones he made were perfect for them. He opened the coffin door and stepped inside, ready to let sleep conume him.