Chapter 3

Her First Reaping

Ashling bobbed her head slightly as she read over the report William had brought to her. Alan and Ronald were in their places as well, looking bored out of their minds. It was clear that they would rather be doing what Grell and Eric were out doing; reaping souls. Even that was better than paperwork, though it was a terribly sad business.

Ashling sighed and stamped the report before dropping it into her finished pile and reaching for another one. She muffled a yawn and readjusted her headphones before beginning, mouthing the words silently to herself.

"26 souls collected from the vicinity of London over week 22 of the calendar year as sickness rates begin to drop..."

A light tap on her shoulder roused her attention, and she looked up sharply to see William standing above her. She quickly removed her headphones and slid her glasses farther up her nose at her superior's cold stare.

"You're going out into the field today, Ashling. There's one soul I need you to collect. Here is the file." he said smoothly, holding a small black folder out to her.

Ashling stood and took the file, doing her best to suppress a grin. She had been in the department for a week and a half, and was eager to show her superiors what she could really do. William nodded and started back to his office, but paused and looked over his shoulder.

"Ronald, go with her. In case she needs help." he said sternly before disappearing into his office.

Ashling smiled and slung her key-tar over her shoulder, glancing over at Ronald. He was smiling softly and stretching, rolling his lawnmower out from behind his desk. Alan sighed and rolled his eyes at them, slumping back in his chair.

"Augh, dammit. You two get to go off and collect a soul and I'm stuck here alone reading reports." he groaned impatiently.

"It'll be okay, Alan senpai. Grell senpai will be back soon." Ashling giggled at the disgusted look that crossed the Shinigami's face, and Ronald smirked at her.

"Come on, we should get going." Ronald said quickly, before Alan could retort.

Ashling nodded and ran from the room eagerly, followed by a grinning Ronald. They raced from the building, stopping once they were several feet from the sliding glass doors of the entrance. Ashling opened the file William had given her and looked over it carefully, reading parts of it aloud.

"His name's Andre Kenning... he's 34 years of age...is separated from his wife, who got angry at him when she discovered that he was selling drugs on the streets. Cause of death; hit by a runaway car. Time; 3:26." she read softly, a small frown crossing her face.

Ronald glanced at his watch and sighed.

"We had better hurry up, then. It's 2:30 now. Come on, we'll take the lawnmower express." he said quickly, standing on the back of the small red push-mower.

Ashling blushed softly and slid the file into a pocket on her suit before walking up behind the Shinigami. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist, clinging to him tightly as the lawnmower started up. Ronald grinned and kicked a pedal on the Death Scythe, and it roared to life and sped forward loudly. Ashling clung tightly to Ronald as the device carried them quickly through the streets and to their destination; a lightly-populated street in London.

The two Shinigami took their places on a roof overlooking the street and waited. As the minutes passed the street began to empty, until there were only a few shady-looking characters leaning against the side of a building left. A moment later, a tall, thin man with black hair and brown eyes walked out of a different building. Ashling sighed softly.

"That's him. The car should come by shortly." she said as the group of shady characters met him in the middle of the street.

"I guess those people are druggies going to him for a fix." Ronald stated observantly, watching as they handed the target small wads of money.

Ashling simply nodded as Andre gave them their drugs, and the group walked back to their place at the building. Andre turned to leave, but a loud rattling caught his attention. A car was barreling down the street, its blue sides flashing in the Sun as it sped closer to the startled man. Ashling looked away as it made contact with the target, the loud thunk enough for her to know it had happened. The druggies cried out loudly as the car sped from the scene, then decided to run away themselves, leaving Andre completely alone.

Ashling and Ronald jumped from their places and landed lightly on the ground, and Ashling ran quickly to the dying man's side. He lay in a pool of blood, and looked up at her fearfully as Ronald joined her. She quickly shoved the file into Ronald's hands and knelt by the man's side. Her face sorrowful.

"You're dying, Andre. But you aren't dying alone." she whispered, standing slowly and popping the blades out of her key-tar.

"My wife..." he groaned sadly.

Ashling thought for a moment before speaking.

"She forgives you, Andre. She told me to tell you...she forgives you, and understands why you were doing it. She wanted me to let you know, before you died, that it's all going to be okay." she said soothingly to him.

Ronald's eyes went wide at the blatant lie, but Ashling ignored him. Andre watched her silently for a moment, then allowed a small smile to cross his dry lips.

"Thank you..." he muttered, closing his eyes.

Ashling didn't reply. She raised the key-tar, bringing the bladed end down quickly into the man's stomach. His Cinematic Record spewed from his body, and Ronald quickly collected it into his file. Once it was done, Andre's body lay still in the middle of the road, a soft smile still across his face. Ronald looked up at Ashling curiously.

"Why did you tell him his wife forgave him? That was a lie." he asked.

"I can't imagine the pain of dying alone, let alone with the guilt and pain of knowing that the one you love is so angry at you. If you're going to die, it should be as reassuring a death as possible. I want to make every soul I reap resigned and reassured before I take it. Death should be no more painful than necessary." Ashling answered softly, looking into Ronald's eyes with sadness in her own.

"He knew you were lying." Ronald said softly.

"Yes, but it was a nice thought anyway, and that's all he needed. Someone to understand and comfort him before he died. I've heard that the eyes of the dead come to haunt Shinigami in their sleep. If they're going to haunt me, at least I will have known that I did my best to give them comfortable deaths."

Ronald watched her in awe for a moment, stunned by her understanding and compassion. After a few moments, he sighed and revved his lawnmower up again.

"Come on. We need to take the file back to William. I imagine Alan is getting very tired of Grell's prattle by now." he said with a grin.

Ashling nodded and wrapped her arms around him again, smiling softly as they started back to the Dispatch.