XI. Euphoria
He would give this murderer credit for bald-faced courage, to bring his depraved art to the streets and dark alleys of Death City itself, the Reaper's own domain. Three young girls, barely teens, flayed alive before a slip of Soul Protect gave away the location of the fourth. Shinigami had given his vow that the madman would be hunted and taken down, but he could not help the broken young student whose cousin lay among the dead... nor could he remain unmoved by the sight of the monster about to devour another innocent human soul.
"Incoming!" Spirit's voice emanated from the blade, a flash of his red hair in the shine of metal as they descended on the ghoul. At the last second it leaped sideways over the victim's remains, passed through the brick, and leered at them through the building's window before bounding off. The scythe gave an angry yell. "No wonder we couldn't find him! The bastard moves through walls!"
"It won't save him," Shinigami's voice was menacing, contrasting with the careful and deliberate movements he was making. The girl's soul bobbed in place above the body, its weak light pulsing over the spreading stain of blood. It wouldn't last long, damaged as it was... he didn't risk taking it in konso when it could disintegrate at any moment and therefore be lost instead of passing safely to whatever afterlife it was destined for. The Reaper had just cupped his large hands around the trembling blue orb when another scream ripped through the air.
Inside the blade, Spirit's image twisted towards the sound. "He's found someone else!"
Father, Kid's voice came whispering from a sliver of black nearby and then the youth stepped into the alley having traveled, as all shinigami could, through shadow. "Please allow me to care for it. I'll keep it safe until your return."
The Reaper could spare only an instant to consider before he placed the soul in Kid's cupped hands, then coiled and vaulted over the building with Spirit firmly in hand, leaving his son alone with the fragile soul. They found the ghoul just outside the Deathbucks having cornered an employee who was working late, and Shinigami felt no small relief when the blade's edge schlicked right through. The woman ran away screaming, but at least Shinigami knew she was all right.
"Enjoy it," he said to Spirit, as the Death Scythe resumed human form and took the red soul by the tail. He left the man there and sped through the alleys until he came back to where he'd left his son.
Kid was still standing in the same spot as before, his yellow eyes half-mast with serene contentment. "Look Father," the young shinigami said wonderingly. It was the happiest and calmest that he'd been in weeks. "It's perfect. Simply perfect. See how symmetrical she is? How precisely balanced? I never realized just how beautiful..."
Only then did Shinigami realize that the girl's mangled corpse still lay messily on the pavement and felt the automatic urge to shield Kid from such a sight - then he realized that there was no way Kid hadn't noticed, but that he simply hadn't reacted to it. Instead he'd focused his entire being on the symmetry of a human soul to the point of ignoring everything else around him. There was such a disconnect that it struck Shinigami momentarily mute.
What else will be ignored while he focuses on things that are proportional? What if it becomes more consuming than it already is? Then, a much more numbing thought: What happens if this becomes all that he knows?
"Thank you Kid," Shinigami heard himself saying as the glowing orb was turned over to him with utmost care and respect. "I'll take it from here."