Problematic: Chapter 4

Sometimes, Grell hated being the one who wasn't so fond of studying. It meant that, in situations like these, Grell could only sit at the side and watch as William procrastinated and leaned over several books that were spread out before him. It meant that Grell was forced to sit on his bed and read his Shakespeare scripts, but with enough concentration only to reread the same page several times before sighing and laying back on his bed. Twiddling his thumbs, he glanced over to Will, who was holding one of the recruit scythes they had been given and repeatedly looking back at the book.

"What's the problem?" As an answer, William threw the scythe towards Grell, who caught it in his outstretched hand. As he concentrated on catching it, it seemed to fly smoothly towards him and landed softly in his palm. William frowned.

"How did you do that?" Grell shrugged, twirling the scythe round and nearly lopping off a lock of his hair.

"I'm not sure… I just concentrated on catching it, Will." Grell looked alarmed, although William was ready to bet that it was more because he'd nearly cut his hair than the fact that he'd just –in theory- summoned the scythe. William shook his head.

"Are you sure that that is all you did? I've encountered two problems, Sutcliff; firstly, I didn't know how to actually summon the scythe. Secondly, since I wasn't aware of how to summon it, I didn't know how to capture a soul with it." William pushed his glasses up his face, gently closing the book and concentrating on the second scythe, willing it to appear in his hand as it lay on his leg. As it should have done, it materialised. "Fascinating."

"I'm nervous, Will…I don't want to fail, I don't want to go back to my old life." Grell brought his knees to his chest and flicked through a page of one of the books lying at the end of his bed. William sighed.

"You won't go back. In essence, Grell, you're already dead. I researched it; once you become a Shinigami recruit, you can't go back to an old life because, to everyone there, you're dead. It's too risky. They might wipe your memories and send you somewhere different."

"I won't fit in, Will. I'm free here. I can't go back." Grell tightened his fists, closing his eyes momentarily before giving William his signature shark-toothed smile. William refrained from rolling his eyes.

"If you're that worried, get to sleep. I don't want you falling asleep halfway through the retrieval." William's eyes locked with Grell's as he waved a hand in the direction of one of the candles, the soft wind blowing out the flame and leaving Grell's side of the room in darkness.

"Aw, Will cares!"

"About my test results, not you. Now sleep before I knock you out myself."


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"This can't be right, I mean- Whoa!" William gracefully threw an arm out and grabbed Grell by the back of his suit before the redhead fell off the top of the barn they were standing on. He didn't look up from the leather-bound tome he was reading through, making Grell give him a look of utter surprise as he wobbled on the edge of the thatched roof. Grell took a step back, standing closer to William.

"Do watch where you're going."

"Eesh, sorry. I thought we were appearing on flat ground." Grell's tone was annoyed, and he crossed his arms and waited for William to finish reading the details of the soul they were to collect.

"No doubt you were surprised at the lack of buildings if you thought we were on the floor. If you wish to see the village, look down but for heavens sake do not fall."

"I'm not an idiot, Will." Grell only got a sarcastic 'hmm?' from William at that, but he straightened his black bow tie as he waited. Eventually William shut the book.

"Victim; Mary Louise Cairn. Time of death; two thirty-three in the afternoon. Cause of death; Beating." Grell gave a sad frown at those words, pushing part of his hair over his shoulder and looking down at the village.

"How old is she?"

"Seventeen."

"Why are they killing her?" Grell asked, pushing his own glasses up his nose so that they didn't fall off as he looked.

"She engaged in sexual interactions with a man who wasn't her husband." Grell scoffed. "You do not approve of her being killed?" William got a malicious giggle as an answer.

"Ha, not at seventeen. What a waste of female life." Grell shook his head in disgust. William raised his eyebrow, looking down at the Village himself. The village itself was roughly three hundred metres away, consisting of a few thatched-roofed cottages with small pens in the back which held a few sheep. The garden of the closest cottage to them had a wooden fence, which stretched around the full three hundred metres and around the back of the barn they were standing on.

"It appears we have arrived at the farm." William noted as he looked around. The entire space to the left of them was vast, thick forest and woodland, blocking sunlight on only a small part of the settlement, which was situated a quarter of a mile away from the edge of the forest. Everywhere else that wasn't part of the village was wheat fields with an old wagon in the middle of one of them.

"I like this place, it looks quite pretty." Grell spoke out loud; William had to agree with him. The slight breeze, the warmth of a midday sun and the enhancing green of the forest gave the place an oddly idyllic feel.

"It won't be quite so pretty in half an hour, when the young lady's blood runs through the barn." William said with a hint of sarcasm to his voice. Grell gave a menacing laugh.

"Oh, but it will be even prettier then!" Grell sat down on the roof, leaning back and propping himself up with his elbows. William, after a moment, joined him, but sat crossed legged with his back straight.

"We've half an hour before she's due to run down that path half-dead." William warned, but Grell only smiled.

"I'd love to live in a nice place like this. Secluded, but comforting and quiet. Actually, I did live in a place like this." Grell's voice took on a wary edge, but he kept talking. William turned to look at him; he'd never heard Grell talk much about himself before.

"Truly?"

"Yes. It was bigger than this though. The cottages were a bit bigger, we had two farms instead of one; a farm on either side of the village. We also had a chapel, an inn and a shop."

"Sounds… peaceful." William murmured quietly, and Grell gave a nod.

"I used to go into the shop once a week, and purchase an apple, a beautiful red apple, before I'd go to the church, climb the ladders and sit on the roof to watch the villagers go about their daily routine. I couldn't fit in anywhere; I couldn't farm, I was too careless for that. I was too overwhelming to work in the shop and inn, and becoming a preacher was out of the question. I pretty much asked for them to kill me. The only good thing I could do was make the most beautiful dresses for the women of the village, and tailor the most handsome robes for the preacher." Grell gave a harsh laugh, shark-toothed teeth on full show, shaking his head. William glanced at him, noting how the man seemed oddly vulnerable when trapped in his memories.

"Why did they kill you?"

"I… they started to grow… suspicious. I was twenty-three and not even married… I'd fall- I don't care to discuss this at the moment." Grell lapsed into silence, staring hard at the ground, a tense silence descending on them both. To break it, William started to speak.

"I grew up as a squire." At that, Grell looked at him as if making sure he was serious. When William's eyes didn't betray any lies, Grell burst out laughing.

"Oh that is rich! No wonder you're such a pompous ass; no, don't interrupt, I'm imagining you in typical squire clothing." Grell thought for a moment as William frowned, before giggling again.

"There's nothing amusing about it. I didn't have a choice in the matter either." William hit him on the arm with his book, prompting Grell to scowl.

"Don't you ever hit a lady-"

He was cut off by a loud scream coming from the direction of the village. Grell and William promptly jumped to their feet, scythes at the ready and watching the path. A young, brunette girl came running down it, dress torn, face bruised and blood bursting from her lips and arms. Grell went to jump down from the barn and quickly take her soul, but William immediately stopped him.

"What? Kill her now and get it over with!" William didn't look at him, but held an arm out to make sure Grell couldn't drop down.

"Shh!" William scanned the area behind the girl; she'd arrived fifteen minutes earlier than she should have.

"Will, it's not like she can see us!" Grell protested, but William was looking towards the wheat fields. The wheat had started to sway in the harsher breeze, but the timing seemed too strange to William. Grell followed his gaze, frowning.

"Something doesn't seem quite right. Don't jump down just yet." William warned, watching as the girl came ever closer to where they were standing on the roof of the barn. Grell switched his gaze to her; William kept his eyes on the wheat field.

"Wait a minute… where's her pursuer? Surely she doesn't die of wounds sustained from a beating that light?" Grell voiced aloud, and William narrowed his eyes when the wheat in the field started to move in the opposite direction of the wind.

"Do you feel that in the air?" William asked quietly, pushing his glasses up his nose again. The girl was roughly fifty metres away from the barn now. Grell paused, concentrating on the air around him, and taking a sharp intake of breath. His green eyes glinted in the light, showing a strange sort of willingness for the unknown.

"It feels like… ripping, breaking!"

"That's Shinigami instinct; you can feel the release of a soul of a person who's dying, even at recruit level. If that's the case, her pursuer is already dead. But if that is the case, what else is chasing her?" William gave a frown as Grell's eyes widened at his words.

"Will, I feel funny, like something dark and tainted is at the corner of my eye, but I can't see anything." Grell started to sound slightly panicked, and he followed William's gaze to the wheat field. Whatever it was in the field had stopped moving, but both Shinigami could feel the power that was rising in the direction of the field. The girl stopped at the barn door, looking around in alarm and fear for her pursuer.

"Can you feel that?" William asked, nodding in the direction of the field, and Grell gave a cry of alarm. He pointed with the tip of his scythe, and William averted his gaze to stare at the growing shadows in the field that had moved to where Grell was pointing.

A pair of blinking red eyes stared back at him.