Deviation Actions
Literature Text
Giana’s heels didn’t click on the sidewalk as she walked beside her superior and her clipboard was long gone. Instead, her slim katana blade hung at her waist and solid knee-high boots adorned her feet and legs.
She had met William in the lobby, where he had been waiting for her, several assignments in hand. As excited as she was, she made certain that she remained outwardly collected in William’s presence. She would hate to disappoint him.
“So where is our first case?” She inquired, keeping pace with him.
“In an alley just off of Bridle Lane,” he answered, eyes forward.
“Why do people always seem to die in alleys?” She muttered.
“Indeed, they’re popular death sites,” he responded. They walked on for a few moments before he looked her over briefly, taking in her appearance. Needless to say, he approved.
Much to his embarrassment, she noticed his gaze.
“What is it?” She inquired.
“Nothing,” he promptly lied, snapping his eyes frontwards again. “That is, how are your nerves?”
“I’m nervous and rather excited, but fairly calm, I think,” she answered honestly.
William hadn’t planned past his spontaneous cover question, so he merely nodded in response to this. He did not wish to make a fool out of himself by answering her with a broken, half-mumbled sentence, so he kept his mouth shut.
“I...” She continued a bit more haltingly. She adjusted her glasses. “I’m eager to please...” You, she finished internally, then winced. She was glad that she had managed to clip her sentence. “I want to prove that I can do my job efficiently and thoroughly,” she added.
“I have nothing but the greatest respect for that,” William lauded her, his tone even. Silence then ensued again. After several more blocks, however, William finally had something more to say. “Here we are.”
The two reapers entered the dank alleyway and automatically headed for their position in the shadows. Giana wrinkled her nose sightly at the putrescence filling the space.
“Charming,” she muttered blandly.
“An occupational hazard,” was William’s grim response.
“Yes, but to die in a place like this... how dreadful.”
“Stay focused, Miss Sutcliff.”
“Of course. My apologies, Mr. Spears.”
Retreating into a shadowed area so that they were well hidden, William looked down at the girl in front of him. The space they concealed themselves in was quite small and they were in close proximity out of necessity. He had never been this close to her before. He could smell the scent of the shampoo she used in her hair: eucalyptus. Growing a bit uncomfortable, he began to think that perhaps this had not been a better option than staying at the office.
Suddenly, she turned around to look up at him and gave him a bit of a start.
“What’s the procedure when the person arrives?” She asked.
“Ah.” He had given some thought to this while he had briefly waited for her in the lobby. “When they arrive, I want you to take complete charge of this case, from start to finish.”
“E-entirely?” She stuttered.
“Yes, is there a problem?”
She gulped. It had been nearly two months since she had reaped and she had only ever done it the once. Fear began to fill her. What if she failed in front of William?
“I...I haven’t done this but once, and it was a while ago,” she admitted.
“Then consider this a test of your memory,” he told her, suddenly seeming a bit cold. “Do your best. I’m confident that it will be satisfactory,” he added to soften his message.
“A-Alright,” she assented, turning outwards once again.
As she turned her back to him and waited for their soon-to-be-deceased, her long cascades of red hung before him invitingly. Unthinkingly, his gloved fingers drifted towards them to caress them, but he felt an odd swell in his lower stomach and quickly turned his head away, withdrawing his hand.
What was wrong with him?!
He had to focus.
“Here he comes,” he heard her breathe.
Sure enough, along came their target, shambling down the alley and stinking drunk. They didn’t even have to put forth any effort when he stumbled, fell, and cracked open his head on the corner of a crate. Blood gushed, his eyes floated back into his skull, and Giana stepped out into the open at the perfect moment. Just as she neared him, his cinematic record unfurled skyward and began to display the moments of his utterly unremarkable life.
The young woman’s eyes narrowed as she observed how the man had abandoned his wife and child in favor of a tall glass of beer over and over again. Eventually, they had left him, leaving him to sink further into his swamp of inebriation.
She glanced down at the semi-conscious man below her, his eyes rolling. This man was not of note, he would die and meet his judgement. Suddenly, his eyes found her in their pain and drunken stupor and a sweat drenched, trembling hand was reached out to her. Her eyes narrowed again.
The sight was pitiful. But she decided to test him once more before her final decision. Crouching down beside the dying man, she picked up the bottle he had dropped as he fell and locked eyes with him.
“Look at me,” she commanded firmly. Though a bit frenzied, he complied. She then extended both the bottle and her own hand. “Choose which one you want.”
After a moment of anguished gasping, the alcoholic remained loyal to his mistress and grasped the bottle. With a disappointed sigh, Giana stood, drew her blade and swiftly cleaved the cinematic reel coming from the man’s chest. Then he died, his eyes still open and his bottle still in hand.
Taking out her report sheet, she filled out the basic information and turned around, suddenly remembering that William was still there.
He had watched the execution--no pun intended--of her duty with interest and found himself rather puzzled at her brief exchange with him. Coming out of his shadowy spot, he approached her.
“Well done,” he said mildly. “But I am curious, what was your purpose for that final display?”
As she joined him in walking to their next destination, she kept a somber and grave air about her.
“Habit is among the hardest human vice to break,” she stated. “If he had managed to do so, he might have had some potential.”
“And you would’ve let him live because he refused an inanimate object that would’ve been of no use to him at the moment? Because he diverged from his vice out of desperation?” He asked, bewildered. He hadn’t taken her for the “angel of mercy” type and he found he was greatly disappointed.
“No,” she surprised him with her indifferent tone. “But I wouldn’t be so cruel as to deny him the chance to lessen his own judgement. We are shinigami, William. We do not pass judgement on people’s souls, only God does, this I know. We merely allow them to go to their judgement. That is the most important role of the reaper. But there are no rules against giving humans a chance to repent just before death. If they fail the test, they are instantly cut off from the land of the living.”
William turned and looked at her with a reevaluating and slightly pleased gaze.
