Okay, here we are! I hope everyone enjoys - thank you all so much for your comments!

The reaper headquarters of Japan existed in the way that most spiritual places existed; it was on a different plane of being. That was why such a large space could be created without being known by humans. Reapers themselves could be seen by a human that was close to death or more finely attuned to the supernatural, but otherwise, they couldn't be seen by anyone who wasn't bothering to look for them.

Tenshi was grateful for this as he felt someone pass through him after they curiously examined the scratches on the wall of their business. Out the corner of his eye, Tenshi saw them shiver. He smirked; reapers were the same as ghosts in that regard. He was invisible and non-corporeal, but a trace of him easily bled through into the world of humans.

Tenshi finished examining the wall himself, making a mental note to chastise Akuma later for going back to headquarters without documenting everything that happened. Aggressive ghosts needed to be filed, and the area needed to be cleansed of negative energy as soon as possible. Tenshi wondered how this spirit had been overlooked, anyway. Most of the time, reapers completed their scheduled harvests as soon as the person died…

Well, maybe it had been a rookie mistake, Tenshi thought as he opened a portal to the headquarters. People die all the time, after all. Tenshi didn't know how his boss did it, but schedules of fate were kept like clockwork for the reapers so that complications like this didn't happen.

Tenshi couldn't remember a time when the reaper community was small. He knew its history, of course, but for the hundreds of years that he'd been working as as a reaper, it only ever grew bigger. It was to be expected as the world population grew, which meant that there was a higher level of people constantly living and dying. Even so, he didn't feel very comfortable with the bustling workplace full of reapers, supernatural visitors, and the odd misplaced ghost. Tenshi squeezed by a group of spirits talking by the entrance and started down to the east wing.

"Oh, Mr. Tenshi!" a cheerful voice came from behind him. Tenshi glanced back to see a brunette young woman rushing up to him.

"Good evening, Miss Haruka." Tenshi replied. Haruka smiled and rushed up to his side, matching his pace.

"I thought you clocked out already."

"I did. I ended up helping out with something else, though."

"What? Do they pay for overtime?"

"Pft, no. Not for one reaping, at least." Tenshi shook his head. He looked up to check the room numbers of the offices they were walking past.

"Really, even though you're high-ranking?!" Haruka gasped. "Aww, and I thought they pushed a lot on us…" Tenshi held down a smirk.

"They're getting better with it. Be glad you don't work in filing."

"I think I'd die again!"

"Ugh, he's still not ready?" Tenshi stopped in front of an office door, seeing that the light was still on. "He better hurry before I change my mind…"

"You're waiting on Mr. Akuma?" Haruka asked. "Are you going for dinner?"

"Nope, drinks."

"WHAT?!" Tenshi jumped at the woman's sharp yell. Haruka blinked incredulously at him. "What do you mean, drinks?"

"I mean drinks." Tenshi glanced around the hallway, bemused. "At the bar."

"Wh-bu-...ohh…" Haruka deflated slightly. "I'm sorry. It's so crazy how I keep forgetting. You're older than me by centuries."

"I know it can be hard to acknowledge," Tenshi sighed. "Especially since you've been with us for, what, a month now?"

"Yeah. Some days I feel like I'm dreaming!" Haruka groaned, clasping her hands. "On top of that, I treat you so casually even though you're my superior...I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay," Tenshi leaned back against the wall. "You try, which is better than some others I can think of."

"Tenshi! You took my offer after all!" Akuma cheered as he opened the door. He noticed Haruka as well, and a mischievous smile bloomed on his face. "Wooh, are you bringing a plus one? A date, Tenshi?"

"No, you idiot." Tenshi scowled as Haruka gasped and sputtered. "We were just talking."

"Right!" Haruka nodded emphatically. "And I have to go finish some work anyhow, and I was meeting someone else tonight, so...goodnight!"

"Aww, I scared her." Akuma cooed as Haruka turned and marched away. "She's pretty cute, though, if you like office lady types…"

"Quit trying to set me up with people, please." Tenshi started back down the hallway. "I don't work the way you do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Akuma whined, pouting at Tenshi as he caught up to him.

"If I'm right, and I probably am, we're gonna go to this bar tonight and you're gonna leave with a date set up with a brand new guy - if you don't leave with him, that is. And that's not bad or anything, but I don't work that way. I can't just talk to a girl for an hour, dance, and then try to date her."

"I'm not saying you have to do that, though!" Akuma said. "I'm trying to work with you - you're never going to date anyone if you keep your feelings to yourself for too long. I'm sure you remember 1962-"

"You said you were paying, right?" Tenshi cut, more like chopped, Akuma off before he could drudge up that memory. "I might just get a few cocktails."

"Hey, I remember saying I'd buy you a drink!"

"But did you really? At least three is fair."

"You can't even handle that much!"

"Depends on what they are!"

"You have a weird way of talking to people," Akuma said, pouting once again. "You really laid into Jack today." Tenshi scoffed.

"Jack...is not who I want to think about right now."

"I think you should apologize to him when you get the chance."

"For what? Telling him exactly what was on my mind?" Tenshi stopped and held out his hands. "If he's being foolish, why shouldn't I tell him that?"

"I can tell when you're worried about someone, Tenshi, but you have zero tact." Akuma stopped walking too, frowning at Tenshi now.

"Well, I wouldn't have to worry if he didn't do such a dumb thing."

"See, there you go again!" Akuma frowned. "Ugh, whatever, let's just go. That attitude's gonna come back to bite you eventually." he turned and started walking again.

"Hmph."

I hope this fleshed out the reaper life a little bit. Please note, I'm not actually going to be focusing on romances in this fic, and flirtatiousness is just part of some characters' personalities, but I have a lot of pairings of lots of characters. Feel free to tell me how you feel about that. Okay, see you next time! Thanks so much for reading.