"Ets, Ketsunai, glad you could make it," Scott Thompson addressed the two amateur Reapers.

Scott sat in his office, his back to the large screen which monitored the spirit(s) of the world. He had a cigarette already lit, and eyes always across the room at the two amateur Reapers that stood at a safe distance from the smoke. It had been a long night, and he really didn't feel like giving a damn about Etsu's preferences. They weren't going to be here for long, anyways.

Fortunately, Yasuo, unlike Etsu, was perfectly fluent in Common. He spoke it well and understood it even better. Of course, there were a few words here and there that he couldn't say, but most importantly, his accent rarely showed. His r's and l's were not the same thing when he spoke Common. If it weren't for his appearance and customs, he'd be able to come off as something other than a native Cizokian.

Etsu, on the other hand, was unmistakeably Cizokian. She couldn't understand a good fourth of what anyone said, and sometimes her accent got in the way of other people understanding her. Yasuo speaking Scott's language made life a hell of a lot easier.

"Got some activity in a northeastern town on the center continent. Ame Voleur activity. Pretty basic stuff, though: movement. One of the weaker things we see from Ame Voleur, where something forces souls to move against their wills. Almost always requires souls to have left the body already," Scott declared, pausing to take a drag from his cigarette, after which he continued: "The two of you are going to be going to this town and eliminating the Ame Voleur responsible. It's going to require a little detective work, but hey, that's life as a Reaper. Gotta do more than smash shit."

Curiously, Yasuo inquired, "Just the two of us?"

"The two of you are going to be partners in this mission--the two of you alone. I'll still be in contact, but if there's some heat, you'll be better off depending on each other than you will me."

"Why can we no bring bet-ter Shinigami?" Etsu asked, not as a slight to her partner, but feeling it was a genuinely good question--and would better benefit the two of them, who didn't have a horrendous amount of battle experience like other Reapers did, "R-rike Er-rd-kun or Draugr-sensei?"

Scott shook his head. "They'd just kill everything. You let Addison in a field situation, and she's going to tear ass into everything without a second thought. Eld, too. You put him in a mission with you, and he'll destroy anything he perceives as a threat."

Too bad he's kind of a pussy on his own. Funny. If someone he knows might be in trouble, he's a monster. If he's by himself, he's an idealist. Scott thought offhandedly, but refrained from making an outright mention of it.

"And the two of you actually need field experience, not to just watch someone do all the work for you," Scott continued.

I'll have 'em on standby just in case, though. Better left unsaid. Etsu could be lazy sometimes, and if she knew she could relax, then she wasn't going to take things as seriously as she would otherwise.

Yasuo smiled down to Etsu and put his hand on her shoulder. "Do not worry, Hikane-sama. We will be fine. You are much more powerful than the average soul thief!"

Etsu, surprised at first when Yasuo put his hand upon her shoulder, looked up to him, partially for a slight bit of reassurance, before nodding in acceptance. She might need to hear that a few more times while they were out in the field, though . . .

"All right. It's cold up there. More winter weather for you, Ets. Dress warm, and report back here when you're ready. You got an hour to get ready, 'fore the higher ups will get pissy."

"Under-stood," both replied, and bowed, in tandem.

Offtopic: Continued in A Trained Eye.