I'm sorry this is so late! I've come down with a nasty cold, which I think I got from one of my roommates. Ah, dormitory life... Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter! Thank you so much for all your feedback and support.

Changes to previous chapter: Mild change in wording to mend a slight inconsistency with chapter 6 (where I said Bunny hadn't sat down, but in 07 he stood up from the couch. Didn't make sense, so now it's fixed!)

"Hold on a bloody minute."

All eyes turned toward Bunny. The Pooka didn't seem to care about the tension making its way back into the atmosphere, and the glares he was getting from his own companions.

"What's wrong?" Tenshi asked. He set aside the vegetables, now coated in flour and seasoning. "Do you not like tempura?"

Bunny looked like he was going to burst. His mouth opened, then closed. His lips curled back in a quiet snarl, and then he felt a hand on his wrist. Tooth's hand. Bunny sank further into the couch.

He didn't look angry, just...intensely confused. Possibly scared, even. Perhaps that was normal, given that his assumptions and expectations were getting torn down with no context.

Reapers were cold. Calculating. Driven by duty, obligation, nothing more. That was all Bunny knew. And yet, even though his big ears had caught Tenshi grumbling about having to use up so many groceries in one night, he was cooking a bigger meal anyway. Bunny caught another glimpse of Tenshi's face. He looked tired, still a bit annoyed. Clover said something, and Tenshi rolled his eyes, but continued to slice up food with just a hint of a smile.

The Pooka had so many questions. As much as he hated being wrong himself, he hated this sudden warp in understanding. He wanted things to be clear more than anything, but ever since the battle with Pitch, he'd been trying to think more before he spoke, and refrain from straining hs relationships like before. That didn't mean he had to like being here, though.

"Wow, the sun's almost down." Jack commented, looking at the sky through the balcony door. "I guess we'll meet more people tomorrow."

"I suppose no news is good news when it comes to our workplaces." North added. "Why not rest for a while and continue meeting later on?"

"Excuse me, but the food is almost ready. Could everyone please go wash up?"

Even with such a serious countenance, Tenshi really was a mother hen. He'd quickly gotten food prepared all over the kitchen - the rice cooker, the veggies being watchfully fried, the simmering miso soup, the salmon grilling and making a wonderful scent. Now he was clucking at Clover to set both tables and refill everyone's drinks. He started serving dinner one at a time, with the older Guardians sitting at the dining table and the younger spirits at the chabudai. After a mumbled thanks for the meal, Jack twisted his mouth into a frown.

"It kind of feels like...we're at a kiddie table." he said, looking from the kitchen to the living room.

"Sit up straight. You look and feel like a child because you're slouching." Tenshi replied, looking critically at the food on Jack's side of the table. "You also refused a lot of vegetables. Both of you did!" he looked at Clover's plate now, though the springtime spirit looked unrepentant.

"You said yourself that food won't affect us permanently anymore," Jack huffed.

"But that doesn't mean you can just eat-"

"You've said this a million times, but it really doesn't apply to us." Julius interrupted the start of Tenshi's rant. "It applies to you and other spirits, but not us."

"What's that mean?" Bunny asked. He absently noticed that Tenshi and Clover were the only ones with chopsticks. The reaper hadn't asked any preferences before getting Clover to set the table, and Bunny was willing to attribute the decision to Clover. After Tenshi had asked about Bunny's diet, however, it was hard to ignore the possibility that he really was considerate.

"It means that grim reapers are different from spirits like Season Keepers," Clover replied. "Jack, Julius, and I don't actually need to eat."

Sandy gently tapped his cup with his fork. Once everyone was looking at him, he made three separate pictures above his head. One was a cluster of stereotypical creature silhouettes, including a rounded sheet ghost with eyes, a feminine face with bat wings, and the likeness of Pitch Black; the next was a group of faces, including Jack, Julius, Clover, and himself; the final was a cluster of faces that included Tenshi, North, Bunny, and Tooth. Tenshi nodded after looking the pictures over.

"He's right, there are three types of supernatural creatures when it comes to physical sustenance." Tenshi started. "There are spirits and creatures that don't need food and can't physically eat it, or get sustained by another source anyway. Then there are spirits who don't need food but can still ingest it properly, and enjoy it even though they'll never actually be hurt by not eating. Finally, there are spirits and creatures that are still mortal in some ways, and need to eat in some frequency to survive."

"So is that why the grim reapers have this...community?" North asked. "To make living easier?"

"Pretty much. We have housing close to our workplace, an infirmary, a supermarket…"

"Back up a second there." Bunny said. "Isn't your workplace anywhere there's death?'

"..."

"Maybe now's a good time for Tenshi to talk about himself and his job anyway," Tooth said, trying to diffuse the tension already resurfacing.

"Yeah, Tenshi, tell us what your job is." Jack said, shoveling a forkful of rice into his mouth. The talk about food made him realize that they were all eating a lot today. Not that this would stop him.

"Hm. I'm a grim reaper, you know that."

"No no, give us details, big bro. The ins and outs!" Clover said. Tenshi sighed.

"I am a grim reaper, one of about 700 living at the Japan headquarters. There are reaper headquarters for nearly every country, by the way. We've had to expand ever since the world started forming societies."

"Um, sorry, but...how old are you?" Jack asked. Tenshi rolled his eyes.

"415 this November."

"So you weren't around when grim reapers started being grim reapers?"

"No, I wasn't."

"Jack, you said a lot of your friends were younger than you." North commented. "Is Tenshi one of the few older ones?"

"Yeah, he's only got a century on me. Julius is only a few decades younger than me. And Cwover's onwy 214~" Jack pursed his lips. Clover stuck out her tongue, and Tenshi frowned at their poor manners.

"Tenshi." Tooth took a risky glance at Bunny before speaking. "Could you explain what exactly a reaper does?" Tenshi saw Bunny tense up, and he raised a big, expressive eyebrow. He took his time choosing his words.

"A grim reaper uses a supernatural weapon, usually a scythe of some kind, to cut away the bonds between a soul and the Earth after a human dies."

"Cutting...bonds?"

"Yes. Every living thing is bound to this realm. The physical bodies of all things are just a part of nature, but souls belong on their own plane of existence." Tenshi pushed around his salmon, sighing quietly. "When a sentient being dies, its body immediately starts returning to nature, but the soul is unsure of itself. Sometimes the soul will attempt to break away on its own, but there are still connections keeping it here. As a reaper, my job is to sever those connections and lead the spirit to the start of its next path."

"And how often d'you do that a day?"

"Huh?" Tenshi looked over at Bunny.

"How often d'you do that a day?" Bunny repeated. "What's your quota?"

"I mean, it depends. Humans die all the time; that's why there are so many reapers…" Suddenly, Tenshi's eyes narrowed. "I hope you're not implying that we set a number and try to match it."

"Bunny…?" North sounded more concerned than indignant, but Bunny refused to meet his eyes.

"Reapers don't kill people. That's not how it works. As a matter of fact, we get in trouble if we tamper with human lifespans." Tenshi set down his chopsticks, looking seriously at Bunny, who refused to meet his eyes as well.

"I guess it's a sharp way to run a business." Bunny scoffed. Tenshi's frown dropped a little farther.

"It's not like we're a corporation! Reapers are chosen for the position and we do the work accordingly. And it's not like we're robots, either! You think we can do this job and not feel anything? You'd know better if you knew the type of sh-"

Tenshi's increasingly angry tirade was cut off by a very out-of-place burst of rock music. Jack almost laughed at the timely censorship, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Tenshi's eyes snapped over to his backpack, which was over by the the wall leading back into the hallway. He sighed, regained enough composure to excuse himself, and went over to look through the bag. He pulled out a flat, black tablet, though just as he pressed a button on the top, the music stopped. He looked swiped through some things before sighing in annoyance.

"Why does he need my help?"

"Something wrong?" Clover asked.

"Akuma needs help with a reaping."

"What? Really?"

"Ugh. Hopefully, I'll be back soon." Tenshi pulled something else out of the bag: a long, plain black robe. He slipped into it and started down the hallway. "Sorry about this."

"...hey, wait, can we come?" Jack scooted himself back to watch Tenshi.

"Hell no, either stay here or go home!"

"Wait, Jack, what are you doing?" Julius hissed as Jack got up and quickly stepped toward the hallway.

"I have an idea. Come on, you guys."

Oh NO, Jack's got a plan...

Bunny's preconceptions are confused and he doesn't like it! Have you ever felt that way before?

Thank you all for reading!