[He got used to soul-eating early, because he had to, for Ryou. Now, it's just a matter of finding someone Atem's willing to erase completely. That's power he's used to wielding, and it made the initial transition to nephilim smooth.

Atem has dreams, sometimes, of the people he's killed. The man behind the arcade. The son of the rebuilding-loan broker.

He never dreams of the people whose souls were eaten.

But that's not what they're talking about.]

I don't ask because I mind hunting for you. I don't, especially since we can share! And...[yes, he'll extend this.]...if you choose targets, I'll trust that they're chosen carefully. There aren't many people I trust to hunt for me...to find people I'd be willing to eat, targets I can live with. Annie's methods -- I trust them.

[So, if Ryou's ever in a position where he and Atem can't hunt, that's the emergency contact.]

I don't trust Mukuro's.

[A heads-up, that anything brought back by her won't be eaten.]

But I'd like to hunt together, while you're like this. If we're both there...it's less likely that I'll make a mistake.

[His own judgment....he's unusually unsure of it. The idea of having Ryou there is actually remarkably reassuring: someone else to sanity-check, to hold back the nephilim's anger and the vampire's cruelty, if they aren't deserved, if they're too much.]