Audit the Heart
Chapter 3
He had seen her that evening as she sat to the train to the residential district. It was a rare evening for him to be able to leave on time. She sat with the grace of a lady, her dusty blond hair reflecting the light in the train car.
Perhaps I should strike up a conversation. She looks a little lonely sitting by herself.
The train lurched as they approached their first stop. She looked around but didn't notice him in the faceless crowd of reapers. He couldn't stop thinking about her. If only there was a way to see her more often. William didn't know her feelings on relationships with coworkers. Even if they didn't work in the same building, they still worked for the same business. Relationships were common in their line of business. Perhaps he could ask her if she had any dinner plans this evening? What if she did? Then he would look like a fool. Grell had told him that the girls in her office said she wasn't seeing anyone. Who knows if that information was reliable. The train lurched again at the second stop.
Maybe he could send her flowers and gauge her reaction. Gardenias. She loved gardenias. If she mentions a significant other, then he wouldn't look a fool when she receives them. If she doesn't, then he could come forward as the sender. The train lurched a third time and the small female he had been focusing on stood from her seat. Only as she exited did she see him. She smiled and bid him a good evening. The only reaction he could muster was a small wave.
Shiki sat on the train as it slowly made its way to the residential districts. It made eight stops in this district. She stood and exited at the third. William was on the train. She only saw him as he stood near the door of the train. He was very attractive but so very quiet. She didn't know what he was thinking on the few occasions they conversed. With a smile and a good evening to Mr. Spears, she stepped of the train.
Making her way from the station, she walked the streets toward her flat. Most reapers didn't get very exciting apartments unless they were a really big deal. As second of the audit department, she was able to comfortably afford her mid sized space. She passed a vendor and collected necessities to make herself dinner along with a lunch for the next day.
Not everyone in this world worked as a reaper. Most retired reapers took on support roles in the community. Despite popular belief, these support roles were considered very respectable for reapers to retire to. They mostly got better hours and pay. It was severely frowned upon to disrespect a support worker. She could not remember ever seeing a reaper address a support rudely. Shiki wondered what job she would take if she lived long enough to retire. Perhaps a restaurant would accept her in their kitchens. Maybe they would let her work in one of the great libraries.
The small reaper shook her head and smiled as she entered her building. Rupert, one of the retired reapers that worked in her building was mopping the floors to the lobby.
"Good evening Rupert." Shiki bowed politely. The older man smiled down at her as he paused in his work.
"Evenin' Miss Shiki. How was work?"
"Busy as usual. We are getting ready for audit season."
"My goodness that comes around fast." Rupert grimaced.
"I know what you mean. By the way, I bought a little extra from the shop this evening because they were some specials going on. I could package some up for you to have for tomorrow."
"I would love that. Thank you. Now you run along and take it easy."
"You have a lovely evening Rupert. I'll drop off lunch for you when I leave for work tomorrow."
"Alright. Now get going." He shooed her away so he could get back to work. She bowed again and made her way to the elevator. The blond stood alone in the small room as she ascended to her floor. Her floor was shared with three other flats. One of said flats belonged to Rupert. The other two belonged to a mid-level reaper named Ryo Sato and an accountant named Gin Nakamura. The two were nearly opposite, but strangely similar. Shiki felt grateful that she didn't have roundly neighbors. The new reaper recruits lived in a similar sized building. The major difference was that there were twenty rooms per floor instead of four. It left each reaper enough room for a bed and a desk if they were lucky.
With a soft chime, the small reaper exited the elevator and looked around. She saw that Gin's door was cracked open, signaling that he was home. The four occupants of the floor agreed that they would leave their doors cracked open if they were home. That way others could come socialize if they felt the desire.
"Good evening Gin." She called as she stepped toward her door. The tall quiet man exited his apartment. His messy dark hair was well kept during the day, but sat messily in the evening. His dark square frames shaped his angled face neatly and stood out against his pale features.
"How was your day?" He asked in a soft monotone. He was not an emotional person, but still good for a conversation when it struck his fancy. He must have been feeling down from his expression. He didn't smile a whole lot, but there was a difference from his usual expression.
"It was alright." She smiled and unlocked her door. "Want to come in while I make dinner?" He nodded. Gin wasn't a good cook to say the least. Must be hungry. She stifled a giggle.
She made Gin some tea and started unpacking her groceries as he took a seat in the other side of the counter.
"You seem angry, something wrong?" Shiki didn't look up from her work.
"Hm?" He must have been mid thought as his face took on some color from what she would assume to be embarrassment. "Apologies. People are getting shuffled around again in Accounting. It's creating extra work." He explained.
"At least you got off on time. I assume." She finished chopping her meat and vegetables as she listened to him. For someone so quiet, he is pretty talkative. When her food was near done, she heard the elevator open. Ryo's wild hair came into view as he stepped from the doorway. The brunette was taller than Shiki, but a few inches shorted than Gin. His suit was wrinkly as his tie hung loosely from his neck.
"Welcome back Ryo." Shiki called from her spot. The brunette turned and gave her a grin before waltzing into her apartment.
"Hey! Damn, it smells good in here. Why aren't we married yet Shiki?" He smiled cheesy and plopped down next to Gin at the counter.
"She would never agree to marry an oaf like you." Gin spoke softly as he held his tea.
"Sure she does! Right Shik?!" He look as her with his big puppy eyes. The small blond could help but notice the slight pleading tone his voice took on when he asked.
"Of course. Right after I marry Rupert and Gin." She laughed, not looking up from the rice she was preparing to see Gin give his friend a triumphant look.
"Hey! Don't be gloating! She said the old man's name first." Ryo caught the other man in a headlock.
The three shared dinner happily in her apartment. Afterward, the two men left for their respective flats for the evening. Shiki was glad to have such good people living on her floor. It was their own little community. The four of them lived very well together. She looked around her flat. Both men had insisted on hanging around to help her clean. Now she didn't have anything to do. She stood in front of her living room window and observed the residential district before deciding to open up one of her books to read for the remainder of the evening.
Shiki arrived at work the next day after delivering Rupert's lunch to find a vase of flowers on her desk. There was no card. But the gardenias were absolutely beautiful. The small auditor stepped out of her office to see if the girls knew anything about the arrangement of flowers.
"I'm sorry Miss Shiki, they were there this morning before I got here. It didn't have a sender on it?" Rem frowned; disappointed that she didn't know whom the sender was.
"I'm afraid not. I would really like to thank whomever brought me these." The reaper sighed. Whoever brought these really wished to remain unknown.
"Shiki, I guess you have a secret admirer." Tabitha smiled. "I wonder if he will send anything else."
The day went on as usual, the girls were all abuzz trying to guess who sent the flowers. Shiki had placed them on her desk near her. If that person saw, then perhaps they will see how much she loved their gift.
Attributing to the unusual day, William stopped by. He brought his divisions reports for audit season. Usually, he sent one of his subordinates. The quiet reaper stepped into her office. He knocked softly on her open door to gain her attention.
"Hello William. Please, come in." Shiki smiled and gestured for the male to set his paperwork down somewhere. He set the papers down on her desk.
"Thank you for bringing these over so quickly, it makes getting ready for next week that much easier." Shiki started paging through what the man brought her. He wouldn't tell her that he put in countless hours of overtime to have this done for her.
"Those are beautiful." He spoke, gazing at the white flowers on her desk.
"They are my favorite. I wish I knew who sent them." She frowned as she touched the soft petals.
"Your boyfriend or husband didn't send them?" He asked. William could feel his insides tightening. He wasn't a home wrecker but something deep down made him want to bring her joy. Perhaps he would pursue her if she had a boyfriend.
She laughed a little. "Nope. I would need a boyfriend first before he could send flowers." William subdued his inner joy.
He gave her a light smile "They suit you." Her face flushed at his compliment.
"Thank you." Her insides were churning.
"Perhaps we-" "Excuse me! Sorry to interrupt. There is a real problem with these figures Shiki! Oh my goodness I'm sorry for barging in!" Rem ran into Shiki's office, cutting William off in the process.
"Okay, I'll take a look at them." Shiki dismissed her subordinate. She gave an apologetic smile to William before continuing. "What were you saying? I'm so sorry. Rem doesn't pay a lot of attention to those things."
William nodded, losing his nerve. "Don't worry about it. It's not important." With a sweet smile, he bid her a good afternoon before leaving her office.
One week later, audit season started. The department was in pure chaos. Shiki was on the way to see Cecil for an assignment that came up. She knocked twice and entered when called.
Cecil turned in his chair. In his hand were some of the documents from the collections department. "Hello Shiki. I have some work for you."
"I'm ready." She stood at attention, awaiting her fate.
"Good. We have been looking through the records for the London dispatch and as you know from what Rem found that there have been many individuals dying that were not on the 'to die' list. Please look over these records and report. The higher ups will not like this. Please investigate and report your results to me." He handed her a small folder and she was quickly dismissed to start her project.
Shiki sat down in her office to look at the records. It appears that these women were all in the same profession. These deaths have been taking place for a long time. The small reaper was having trouble with keeping tally of the deaths.
Shiki finished reading and left with her death scythe to the great library. The report stated that the deaths were happening around multiple districts, she needed to find the first. If she could do that, then she could probably find out what reapers were assigned to that district. Perhaps one of them saw something unusual.
She sat at the table with several books. Each book was a record of a deceased woman not on the 'to die' list. She was trying to find similarities in the records. They were all ladies of the night, not new. They didn't even work in the same areas of London, let alone know each other. Shiki paused as she flipped through one of the books. The hospital name looked familiar. Scooting over to another book, she found mention of that same hospital. Perhaps someone is spotting them near the hospital and picking them off. But they were at the hospital for the same reason. All of them saw the same doctor. Shiki stood and walked through the isles, looking for one book in particular, Angelina Dalles. If this woman was seeing all these women, then the murderer is near her. If she were the one killing them, then they would occur on the 'to die' list normally.
The small reaper stopped and scoured the shelves, even checking behind to see if it fell somewhere. Not able to find it, she sought out a member of the library staff.
"Excuse me, I can't locate a record." She smiled at the older woman. The woman nodded and opened a large book on her counter. It was a record of the ins and outs of the books located in the London library.
"What book?" She looked through her thick lenses.
"I am looking for Angelina Dalles." The small reaper spoke already expecting the answer.
The older woman flipped through her pages to locate Mrs. Dalles' record. "The book was never checked out."
"Do you know if any one has been lurking around?" Shiki didn't feel right about this. She had a sneaking feeling that someone took Angelina Dalles' record. Whatever is in that book must be the answer.
"No, I haven't seen anyone of suspicion. I'm sorry." The elder woman frowned in disappointment.
"Don't worry! I'll find my answer elsewhere." She bowed and exited the library. Her next destination was for William's office. The reapers he managed were dispatched near that hospital. Perhaps he may know something.