Thanksgiving Day through the eyes of a Reaper.

"Hey boys, looks like we've got ourselves a lost lady here."

Slowly, lazily, blood-red eyes raised themselves to stare at the thugs in the dark alley.

"What's a fine girl like you doing here?"

Said girl looked around hazily and counted off the gangly-looking men. They were ten in all. Too bad, harvest was low this season.

"Oi! Are you even listening to us?"

One was coming closer. She could see his eyes absolutely blazing with lust. Disgusting.

"I'd say she wanted this to happen. A little thanksgiving present for us, heh heh heh."

Despite the men surrounding her, she didn't stir or even blink. Any normal person would've guessed that something was wrong but either these guys were too stoned or they were just plain morons.

"She looks a little sickly though but I like my girls small and weak. Makes it harder for 'em to struggle."

Slowly, she raised her eyes to view the person who had made that statement. And in the coldest, hardest yet smoothest voice, she asked, "Small?"

It took a second but only a second and the group was down by half a man. Half a man because his torso had been severed from his waist and the rest stared before going into panic mode as blood dyed the night air red and splattered on their surprised faces.

And she hadn't moved at all.

"Oi...what the hell is going-"

SLASH!

A head flew. The rest screamed. For lo and behold, the young girl held a stained scythe in her thin arm and a bloodied finger to her lips.

"There's a lost soul here I wish to obtain. But to do that, I have to whittle the lot of you down till it reveals itself. So I suppose your time has come since I cannot be bothered with scanning your souls," she explained ominously and in the next few seconds, three people were sliced in half.

"Get away from me!" one of them cried, shooting a gun. The bullet pierced her skull but she didn't move an inch. Rather, she stuck her finger into the hole and tore it out, letting the rich black blood stream down her face.

"That hurt," she murmured listlessly and his legs were diced to bloody pieces. He barely screamed before she pressed his body down on the kerb and pushed the bullet into his skull, slowly, mercilessly and without a single shred of remorse.

But why should she care? Humans were but mere livestock to her.

Two screams later, only two were left and they stared in horror at the blood-coated being before them while trembling in fear and confusion.

"Only two left," she remarked and balanced the scythe on her small shoulders before eyeing them carefully and raising a finger. "You on the left, I suggest you run."

The man was confused and turned to his partner only to let his jaw go slack as the so-called partner had morphed into a hideous, tentacled, shadowy being with no head and a large mouth on his rotund belly.

She watched as the horrified man was eaten alive and sighed as the Lost Soul turned to her with jaws drooling raw malice and hunger.

"Reaper..." it groaned, voice tinged with hatred, anguish, fear and darkness. "Let me have your soul..."

"Looks like a high-levelled one," the girl remarked, skin darkening into an ash-grey tone. "Guess I'll just have to call him."

With that, she raised her scythe (nicknamed Harvester) and closed her eyes, unperturbed by the creature lurching towards her. It lunged, jaws barred wide open and acidic slobber flying about in its mad lust for her black blood.

There was a purple flash of light and a gunshot reverberated through the air.

"Tae-chan! You finally let me out!" a voice exclaimed from nowhere and the monster jumped back, clawed hands clutching the bleeding hole in its neck. From behind the girl came a dark shadow that materialised into a tall, dark-haired young man of equal skin tone and wielding a rather large hand-gun in his left hand. "I guess you must've missed my presence a lot."

"Shut up and get to work, Draco," she replied, still as cold as ever and earning a short laugh from the newcomer.

"That harsh voice of yours always turns me on," Draco chuckled and raised his gun before placing several shots on the now-regenerating monster, making it scream in agony. Just before it could react, Tae's form appeared from above and gave a rather brutal slash to its shoulder, scowling as she missed and only managed to lop off an arm. Quick as a flash, tentacles burst from its back and nearly impaled her had it not been for her quick skills with Harvester, blocking each blow. One nearly hit her though but a rather similar tentacle stopped it and snatched Tae away before more could come.

"I told you, let the Familiar do the job," Draco scolded playfully and set her down before letting his six, red-tipped tentacles fly at the Lost Soul and rip off quite a sizeable chunk of its side.

"Hmph. Like I'd let some lecherous beast take my kill," Tae huffed, running forward again and making a quick slide underneath its legs before getting behind it and ramming her scythe into its back, chopping off quite a lot of tentacles. The monster turned to her and opened wide, intending to swallow her again but staggered back as she casually tore its tongue out with her left hand and stepped back as Draco landed on its shoulders and jammed his gun into its neck, letting loose a barrage of dark matter into its writhing frame and ignoring the various enemy tentacles clawing at his back and sides.

"Now, Tae!" he cried once the beast had had enough and in no time, Tae's scythe was around its front, just at the space between its open jaws.

"Rest in pieces," was all she whispered and the Lost Soul was torn in six, sending blood spraying all over the place. Licking his lips, Draco devoured the writhing pieces via open-mouthed tentacles and grinned as the last morsel was devoured.

"Thanks for the meal, babe," he stated and winced as the butt end of Harvester kissed his bleeding side.

"Of all the familiars I could've been given, the old man just had to pick you didn't he," she deadpanned and gave Harvester a flick, shaking off the blood staining its glossy metal blade. "And for the last time, don't call me babe."

"Aww, but you know I like small and cute things," he whined, earning a tick mark on her forehead.

"I'll kill you one of these days," she grumbled, balancing the scythe again and turning her back on him.

"And waste the most powerful Familiar in the demon world? You really are heartless," he remarked and Tae's eyes narrowed as his hand found itself on her waist...again. "But that's what I love about you. Won't you please be my bride?"

"Marrying a Familiar is akin to marrying a pet," she replied bluntly and tried to pull away. "I'll say it once again like I've always said for the past 200 years. No, Draco."

"And I shall continue to press once more for the sake of being more in your blood-red eyes, my little mistress," he laughed and winced again as this time, her elbow kissed his stomach.

For all her coldness though, everyone knew she was quite deep on the inside and wasn't really as brutal as her appearances and actions made her seem. If you had been picked to be her Familiar, you would've been quite amused by her random acts of kindness here and there. Such as-

"You need to get patched up," she piped up, finally giving up on escaping his grip and instead, giving the blood, Draco's blood, on her finger a small lick. "Your blood doesn't have the regenerative ability needed to cope with your power."

"Right right," he answered and let her go before sitting down on the park bench nearby and letting her tear off his jacket, revealing his badly injured slashes.

"I'm surprised you could even still stand after such attacks. It must've been agony," she mumbled, dropping her scythe and placing her hands on his back while closing her eyes.

"Comes with the power I guess. Don't suppose I could get a massage with those healing hands of yours-OW!"

"Stop talking," she ordered gently as a purplish mist wafted from her fingertips. With fine strokes, she brushed each injured side and Draco sighed a bit as he felt each wound closing up. In a minute, most of his injuries were gone and she stopped to rest a bit before continuing again as reconstructing a Familiar took quite a lot of energy.

"You know, no one really does this for Familiars. We are Lost Souls too, you know. The other reapers simply let us fend for ourselves," Draco pointed out.

Tae stopped at his shoulders and stared a bit before continuing. "I know."

"So why're you doing this?" he asked, voice a bit more serious. "I always asked before but you never answered. Today, I really want to know. Why would the renowned 'Skull-princess' go so far for a being that is fated to land in hell sooner or later?"

The young ravenette stopped again before looking to the moon. "I wonder too. Pity, perhaps?"

"That hurt," he sweatdropped. "But I know it's not true."

"Maybe." With that, she continued working on his injuries and he sighed again before facing his laps and smiling softly.

"You know, I think you've actually got feelings in that pessimistic shell of yours. It's sub-conscious but you still show it sometimes. I almost think you're human at times."

To his surprise, a small chuckle emanated from her lips. "I left my humanity so long, I've forgotten what it feels like. But I get brief hints when I experience the unfortunate event of having to call you out."

"Again, ouch," he remarked and, feeling a bit bolder, rested his hand on hers as she reached his sides. "I'm the most powerful Familiar because I was the most evil human to walk the face of the earth, centuries ago and yet you deemed it fit to put up with me for so long. I know you pushed back my expiry date and I'm sure it's a little late to ask but...why?"

Tae blinked before facing forward again. "I don't know. Perhaps it was because you interested me. The ever-smiling Lost Soul who somehow retained his emotional capabilities after death. Though I didn't exactly want you, I intended to at least study you and see just what made you tick. I still haven't found my answer. And it's weird but...I don't want you to leave just yet without letting me obtain a suitable hypothesis."

"You make me sound like some complex experiment," he lamented comically before smiling again. "This may seem odd...but I'm thankful I was chosen to be your new Familiar. I got quite a bit of exercise and food. And a chance to hit on a cute girl like you-ow."

"Idiot," she chided and Draco's red eyes widened as her hands stopped on his chest and her head laid down over his shoulder with a small smile.

"I don't have any injuries there," he muttered, a bit confused. In all the years they had spent, this was the closest Tae was to him physically. And deliberately too. The feel of her chest against his back made him blush a bit and he laughed a bit nervously as her fingers drummed against his chest. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're being rather affectionate, Tae-chan."

"Can you feel it," she spoke up suddenly. "Can you feel my heartbeat?"

Draco stilled a bit and waited a few minutes before giving himself a mental facepalm as he remembered something. "Of course not. Reapers are beatless. Sure they've got hearts...but it doesn't beat at all."

Thump....

The man's eyes widened. "Eh?"

Thump...

"Surprised? I gained it after I saw you. That's what made me take some interest in you and it made me wonder how such a filthy creature could re-start a reaper's dead heart. Slowly, surely, I'm starting to obtain feelings too," she explained gently and stopped drumming on his chest. "And it's all because of you, Draco."

"...Is this a confession? Because I'm confused. Also, if you've gained a heartbeat...what does it make you?" he asked uncertainly. "Are you going to lose your position as a reaper and become a Lost Soul too?"

"...Reapers were always modified Lost Souls. Just Lord Death's personal Familiars higher on the food chain than you lesser creatures," she replied. "And I don't see how my statement had been interpreted into a confession, you lovestruck lecher."

"But I made your heart beat again," he pointed out proudly. "And I know for a fact that that means you're either in love with me but don't realise it...or our little reaper is lusting after her handsome pet-Oooowwww, that's my ear, Tae-chan!"

"You're hopeless," she stated and pulled back. "And a heart beat only made me realise how much closer I was to the humans I slayed. It won't affect my position but it might hinder me from mindlessly staining myself with human blood when next I go on a hunt. And maybe...just maybe...I might find myself mulling over that blunt proposal of yours."

"I see-What?"

The girl straightened up and tilted Draco's head back to face hers. "Let's just say, this reaper has some rather odd attachment to her new pet."

A smile broke out across Draco's face. "So...you'll marry me?"

Tae gave a ghost of a smirk. "Not until you learn how to behave yourself more."

Draco was going to protest but something soft pressed against his lips and all complaints flew out the window. A full minute later, she pulled back and her usual stoic face returned.

"Do not pester me about such troublesome matters again," she ordered. "And speak of this to no one."

"For the best Thanksgiving present ever, I suppose I can fulfil that wish," he replied and hopped to his feet before tossing on his coat. Satisfied, Tae turned and inhaled the cool night air before pulling Harvester out of the ground and giving Draco a curt nod to get a move on.

"There's six more to go. We'd better hurry up if I want to be back for the Thanksgiving turkey," she stated and raised an eyebrow as Draco looped an arm around her waist.

"Allow me to fly us to each one, mistress," he requested as his tentacles began to wind and loop into two black wings.

"I guess I'll let this slide," she replied, hands ready to slay the next misguided Lost Soul. "Perhaps I'm thankful for having a Familiar who can be of some real use now and then."

"You really love bashing my pride," he chuckled and felt the energy gather round his wings. "Say the word and this will be over in no time."

Nodding, Tae raised Harvester to her side and uttered, "Take me to the pits of this earthly hell where the misguided souls lay in wait and accompany me in harvesting their lost essence, my Familiar, Draco P. Quincy."

The man gave his deadly, signature smile.

The energy surged through his monstrous wings.

His hunger for Lost Souls re-ignited.

And he parted his lips to seal the deal.

"Yes, my Lord."

And so once again, on that quiet Thanksgiving night, a Reaper and her Familiar blasted off to harvest their last batch of ever-hungry Lost Souls.

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Our little imouto gets her own debut at last. As I couldn't pin this on her birthday, I just had to use the long-past Thanksgiving xD!

The first thing that came to me after writing this was...creepy. But I think it suited them since Natsuki-kun is a reaper and Draco's the nearest thing to a death god. Sorry if I made her a little emotionless or if Draco seemed different (?) from his usual self in ASPS.

Well, onto the next drawing and chapters! Billytosan signing out! (P.S: That is a turkey bone sticking out from Tae's lips.)