Let Go

by IwRiTe4yOu

Karin lives a very short life with her friends at Shibusen. Like any other, she only hopes to die nobly, and to go for someone she loves is even better. This is the story about the day Karin Hinata was killed.

A/N: I do not own Soul Eater. Nope. Didn't write it. Sad... T^T

Let Go

I knew it was the right choice to make. The way he looked at her, the way he flirted with her, the way he ignored my feelings... He'd been my best friend for so long.. I thought maybe we could have been different. But she made him so much happier. So I knew I made the right choice when I jumped in front of the blade to save his life, by giving up my own.

My name is Hinata Karin, and this is the story of the day I died.

My best friend in the entire world was Soul Evans. We'd grown up together from the cradle. My mom wasn't surprised the day that I told her that I liked him more than just a friend. She rooted for me. We both found our partners and were having the time of our lives at Shibusen. But I still hadn't gotten the courage up to tell him that I loved him. Especially with the way he was always looking at Maka. I rooted him on.

Utashon, my partner, knew how much I was breaking my own heart to make sure that Soul stayed happy. He helped me get along, and helped me become stronger. My final day, I sat in class with Utashon, Maka and Soul, talking before professor Stein came in. We were talking about the basketball game we were planning for after school. Maka wasn't too keen on the idea.

"I just don't understand how that could be in any way fun," Maka complained. The boys laughed at her.

I turned to her smiling. "You just don't like it because you don't understand how to play."

Maka's face turned red and she looked away. I turned back to Utashon and Soul.

"It has to be right after school. We should invite Black Star, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz, and Patti along too. Then it will really be a party. Maybe we can talk Stein-sensei into coming to watch. He'd probably get a kick out of us playing. There will have to be something we are playing for too!" We turned around for a moment to think.

Soul turned to us and spoke first. "How about, losing team has to... hmm. I don't know."

"Maybe we could have the losing team stand an entire day one-on-one with Stein," Utashon suggested. I laughed.

"Utashon, that is harsh! Let's do it!" We laughed about it for a while and talked some more before Stein-sensei finally arrived.

"Good morning class. Before we begin, I have an announcement. Maka, Soul, Utashon and Karin, you four are wanted in the "Death Room". Shinigami-sama would like to speak with you," I jumped up with Utashon and Soul, racing them down to the door.

I opened the door and ushered them out. "Ladies first," I grinned. They walked out together, and I followed behind Maka, pulling the door shut. It wasn't too far of a walk from our room to the "Death Room". So we walked slowly.

"What do you think Shinigami-sama wants to speak to us for?" Utashon asked.

"Maybe we got in trouble for something," Soul said.

"Or, we are getting assigned on a super, top secret, coolest ever mission!" I shouted.

"Maybe he wanted to talk to us about Kid," Maka said. "He didn't show up in class this morning. I wonder where he is," I looked back at today's classroom arrangement, looking at the faces I had seen, and thinking about the ones that were missing. As usual, Maka was right, Kid hadn't been there this morning. Neither had Liz or Patti.

"Wouldn't he have asked for Black Star and Tsubaki to come down too? They are Kid's friends just as much as we are, and they probably have the same information we know about Kid," Utashon stated bluntly.

I smiled at my partner in crime. "Yeah, he would have. So we've ruled that one out. I don't think I've done anything lately that could have gotten me into any sort of trouble, and I doubt Maka would, so I think we can rule that one out too. That means, obviously, that we are being sent on an awesome mission!"

Utashon, Soul and I shared high fives before we approached our destination in the sudden silence. They guys opened the doors for Maka and I, walking behind us as we passed through the guillotines. Shinigami-sama was standing in front of his mirror when we finally reached the room.

"Hello Shinigami-sama," Maka and I said. I relaxed when he turned around, normally smiling at us.

"Hi hi!" Came his usual response.

Utashon walked forward to my left side to speak to Shinigami-sama. "What did you call us down here for Shinigami-sama?"

"I have a mission for the four of you," I inwardly congratulated myself for getting it right. "In Italy there are a few assassins that I need you to take care of. I'm not exactly sure how many."

I looked over to my partner who nodded at me, "Utashon and I accept the mission sir."

Maka spoke, "Soul and I also accept."

"Good," he said. "All four of you will be flown to Italy right after you leave this room. I would like you to hunt down all of the assassins. That is your only mission for today. Remember to be careful!"

The four us nodded and bowed to him before turning to head back through the guillotines. Utashon and Soul were talking animatedly about how this mission was going to be absolutely amazing. Maka turned to me.

"Why aren't you talking with them like usual?" She asked.

"Assassins aren't that hard of a job when you think about it. Why did Shinigami-sama want all four of us to go? I don't know, I just have a bad feeling about this mission."

"Even if they aren't that hard, maybe it's just because it is so far away from home, and we don't know the area. That way, while one team is attacking the other can find a way out or something like that," She attempted to explain.

"Yeah, that might be it," I smiled towards her. "Hey, we're even going to Italy. Maybe before we meet up with the assassins we could do a little sight seeing."

Maka scowled at me. "We are going to be there on a mission. We are not going to be doing any sight seeing," I groaned at her and twitched my nose.

"You're no fun..." She just chuckled at me.

We boarded our plane, and after many, many, many, many hours of flying, we landed in Italy. In our landing area were two different colored motorcycles. One for team Soul and Maka, and the other for team Utashon and me. Soul called the red one, so I gave him the satisfaction of seeing me pout over it, but I was glad that Utashon and I got the green one. All four of us hopped on our respective bikes and headed out. We drove through the city at top speed until we reached the part of town the assassins would be in. We parked the bikes and went on foot from there. It didn't take long for Soul to run into somebody, at least he said sorry.

The guy spun around and picked Soul up. "Little bastard," he snarled.

I smirked and took Maka's arm; Utashon followed us. Before we walked passed the group of morons that had surrounded the guy holding Soul, Maka turned back to talk to him. "Come on Soul, we need to keep moving."

"Yeah, yeah," Soul replied. The human holding him growled.

"Do you think that I'm just going to let you go after you run into me? Hell no you little brat."

Soul muttered something before calling out to the three of us still walking away. "Do I have to hold back on them?"

"Nope," I called out happily. Maka whacked my head.

"Yes Soul you do. I don't care if they are all knocked out, just make sure they are all still alive."

I snarled at Maka, but listened contently as each of the bodies hit the ground. It didn't take long before Soul caught up with us and we were back on track, following the scent of the assassin(s?) We followed it all the way to the roof of some house several blocks away from where they had thought the assassin(s?) might be. The sun was up, and no one was there, so we sat on the roof.

"How many do think there are going to be?" Utashon asked.

"There can't be more than ten," I spoke confidently.

"What if there are an odd number of assassins? Then we'll have one left over soul. Who is going to get the extra one?" Soul pointed out.

Maka answered. "I think that Utashon and Karin should have it. They are near ninety-nine souls."

"We have eighty-seven right now!" I pointed out.

Soul interrupted whatever Maka had been about to say. "But shouldn't we get it then. We had to start over!"

Maka hit his head. "That is also exactly why we are not going to get the souls. Because we made a mistake and had to start over. They haven't even made it to ninety-nine to be able to mess it up," I interrupted her this time.

"Hey! I take that offensively. Do you really think that we are going to mess up?"

Maka ignored me. "So we should let them have their chance just to be fair. And if they so happen to kill a true witch and change Utashon, then it is fair."

I dropped my arm around Maka's shoulders. "Aww. I love the way you think Maka, but who cares about being fair. We do have more souls. If there is an uneven number, then I think you guys should take it. What do you think Utashon?"

"I agree."

"Then it's settled. Once we defeat however many there are of them, we divy up the souls and if there is one extra Soul you have every right to eat it."

"Yes!"

Suddenly Maka didn't care anymore, I could tell by the silence she left with us. She was probably pleased by the outcome, glad that she would be able to redeem herself with more souls after their small mess up.

We waited a few more hours until it was almost dark, when the first one showed up. Soul and Maka took him out easily after a few cute tricks. Soul gobbled down what was left of the man. Then we sat down to wait again. After a while, I screamed, frustrated.

"Was that seriously the only one? What the hell was Shinigami-sama thinking? Sending four of us after one.." I stopped mid-sentence and turned East. "Did any of you hear that?"

They all turned to see where I was looking. "Hear what?" Maka asked.

I ran along the rooftops -ignoring their questions of where I was headed- quickly finding where our bikes were and jumped off onto one. Utashon, jumped on behind me, and I took off. Soul, being the speedy bugger he is, caught up with us quickly. I talked to Maka without looking at her.

"Do you feel all those human souls?"

I heard her gasp, "Where did they all come from?"

"I don't know, but I'm heading in the general direction of where they are. I feel some other presence in there with them, and it's not a nice one. Something fishy is going on," I made a sharp turn, Soul was barely able to turn in time to stay with me.

When I finally stopped we were in front of an old chapel. I was pretty sure that we had made it there in record time too. I jumped off the bike, leaving Utashon to catch it, park it and turn it off. I ran up to the door and had my hand on the handle before Maka was right up next to me, holding onto my elbow.

"Don't go in there," she said. "I have a really horrible feeling about this place."

I glared at her. "Can't you feel it? Check the human soul count inside that room. It went from about one hundred to twenty-five and decreasing in the matter of time it took us to get here from that rooftop. I can feel the souls of a weapon and meister in that room," Maka looked tortured. I could see her watching the souls disappear.

I threw the doors open and entered. My friends followed me in and the door closed behind us. I looked at the purple haired kid standing in the center of the room, shocked by the sight. Not only had all of the human souls completely disappeared; I could still feel the souls of both a weapon and meister. But only one person stood there, the kid wasn't even holding a weapon.

I turned to see Maka evaluating the same thing. Tears stung my eyes, I knew what we were up against. I looked down and whispered to her. "The kid's weapon is inside of him."

Maka looked at me confused. We both looked up to see what looked like the kid talking to himself. The kid smiled at whoever he was talking too. I listened intently and could hear a woman's voice.

"Nake, snake, cobra, cobubara."

I turned to Utashon, Soul and Maka. "This kid isn't working alone either. I heard the voice of a woman. She's quite a ways away, but that kid can hear her too. She's a witch," I looked at Maka smiling. "Are you ready for the battle of your life?" She smiled back at me.

"I feel ready, but I'd feel much better if I was more certain of the outcome."

"Well then we are just going to have to do the best we can. Utashon, bow and arrow," he flashed a bright white light for a moment until he finished his transformation. The seemingly empty quiver of arrows was strapped to my back, and he was in my hands. I watched Maka catch Soul as the scythe. The kid was still standing there when I turned. "I don't care who you are, but what you've done is just wrong. It's against all laws to eat a human's soul!"

Something started to grow from him. Maka looked at me, "What's going on?"

"Shit!" I screamed. "We aggravated him. That thing growing out of his back is probably his weapon." I smiled a grim smile looking down at Utashon. "This should be one hell of a fight." The black mass continued to sprout, arms grew, a body, shoulders, a neck, then finally a face. With... googly eyes? I almost lost my composure and laughed, but held it in for the sake of the fight. The... growth... then began to beat the kid in the head. They started to bicker.

"No, Ragnarok. Stop.."

"Come on Crona. Are you going to let them push you around like everyone else?"

The kid, Crona, began to "talk to himself" again. Ragnarok was offering to get this thing done. When he spoke again a cold chill ran through my spine.

Panicked, I turned toward the other team. "Brace yourself." I said. The huge mass on Crona's back began to mold, and changed, transferring itself into the boy's hand. When it had finally formed, the mass, Ragnarok, was a blade in Crona's hand. A blade with a mouth. I stopped myself from laughing again. If it had been any other situation, I would have laughed and not cared, but this battle had me too scared to move, and laughing was just not an option. The blade opened it's mouth and let out an ear piercing scream. It didn't affect me too much, but Maka covered her ears. The shriek's shock wave went straight for her. I pulled out an arrow from my quiver and shot for her, the arrow grabbed her sleeve and pulled her out of harm's way just in time. I called the arrow back, and felt the weight of it as it entered the quiver.

She didn't thank me, and I'm glad she didn't, for it would have distracted her. Crona had glided towards her, scraping the blade along the ground. Maka stepped on the blade, bringing the attack to a dead stop. She brought her hand up and slapped Crona. The boy then turned towards me for a moment and came my way. This time he was coming in for a side attack. I jumped and performed a side flip over the blade, before bringing my foot up and kicking Crona back over to Maka's side of the room.

Maka swung at him before he stepped back, she dug Soul into the ground and flipped over him, bringing her scythe around with her as she did. She put her full strength in her downward airborn strike and brought the scythe around at last second, striking Crona in the side. The blow should have been fatal, cutting the boy clean in half. But the scythe stopped, leaving Crona standing there looking shy with his blade hanging to the ground. Maka gasped, as did Soul, Utashon and I.

I could hear the witch speaking in the backround as Crona looked up at us. "That kind of blow... won't be able to slice me in half."

The dripping sound reached the front of the chapel where I was still standing. I could hear Maka muttering. "Black... blood."

Crona got really close to Maka and whispered something inaudible to my ears making her back up in about three bounds. She made it back to where I was still standing. "Welcome back," I mumbled. "Now it's my turn."

"Wait!" Maka called out. "His blood is black. It is his weapon. If you cut his skin, his blood hardens and the weapon just stops at the blood vessel."

Utashon spoke up, "Does that mean we won't be able to hurt him?"

"We can't hurt him with our weapons physical blows. I don't even think that using Witch Hunter would work. I'm not sure, but if you were to run your soul's wavelength through him, Karin, it might inflict some damage upon him," I nodded to her before turning back to our opponent. I hesitated when the witch began to talk again. I hopped over to where Maka was, listening to the conversation.

"Who the hell is he talking with?" Soul asked.

"He's talking to some witch," I answered. "Shit," I muttered. "She told him just to kill us. Maka, do you think if I drew some of my soul's wavelength and weaved it into an arrow it might be able to hurt him?"

Maka looked frustrated. "I don't know. But it's worth a try." I nodded and looked at my partner.

"It may hurt if I don't get it right. Are you willing to try this with me?" Utashon nodded, and I pulled an arrow out of my quiver. Putting my hand around the shaft, I stroked the arrow, focusing on running my wavelength through it, weaving it around the shaft, the head, and the tail. I didn't hear Utashon growl at me, so I took it as an okay that I had gotten it right. I strung my arrow through my bow and took aim.

Having been distracted, I only caught the last part of what Crona was "saying to himself" "Those doors... they open inwards, right?"

Too concentrated on aiming I didn't think to look over and tell Maka to get the doors open. Once I had lock on the skin just above his heart, I let the arrow fly. It hit in the direct spot I had intended it too, the head of the arrow dug in just a tiny bit, then the arrow fell to the ground, but my wavelength stayed. Because it hadn't been a direct touch, and I wasn't driving my soul's wavelength into him myself, it didn't hurt Crona nearly as bad. And since the arrow hadn't pierced very far into the skin, the shock was no where near the heart.

I bent over for just a moment, placing Utashon on the ground. "Sorry, Utashon," I whispered. "He's basically immune to all of your attacks. I'm going to have to do this one on my own." Before he could protest, I ran forward and caught the first swing of Crona's blade between my hands. I flipped the blade over, throwing Crona onto the ground. I dug my fist into his stomach and released a large shock. Crona screamed, and the blade came down, clipping my left shoulder. As I backed up, Crona was able to stand and come back at me. I ducked each one of them, finally, getting down low enough to swing my leg around and trip the kid.

Fighting to get passed his blade, I managed to reach out with my injured arm and send a shock into his neck. Unprotected, his sword caught me under the left side of my jaw, cutting through part of my neck. Dripping with blood he had spit up, and drenched in the blood from my two left side wounds, I flipped over his head to his backside and placed both of my palms flat against his back, pulsing as much of my wavelength as I could at one time. The blade, seeming to have a mind of its own, came swinging around ready to cut of my head clean off, from the right side. I ducked and jumped up to run back to where Maka stood with Utashon, still wielding Soul.

Crona held up his blade once more and the terrible shriek pierced through the night. With all of us covering our ears the shock wave went, once again, towards Maka. It sent her flying backwards, and as Utashon and I stood there astonished, Crona flew passed us straight for Maka. Maka pulled up her scythe just in time to deflect the blow. But as she used Soul as a shield, the damn blade screamed again, cutting straight through the metal of the scythe.

I died standing there as I watched Soul get hurt. "Soul, Maka!" I screamed. Running towards both of my friends. Maka asked Soul if he was okay before standing there, staring at the boy, obviously thinking. As the blade screamed once more, I was able to get another shock through his back. before he turned back to head for Maka and Soul again. Maka deflected one of Crona's blows using Soul as a pole to flip around and trip up Crona. Having learned from experience, Crona went with the movement and was able to do a full flip and land on his feet, along with Maka.

Crona dashed forward and began jabbing his blade at Maka. She instinctively dodged them without using Soul as a shield. Soul was yelling at her for doing so, but I couldn't have been more thankful to my friend. Too soon Maka reached the end of her rope. She had reached the door. What Crona said before came back to me.

I yelled to her, "No! Maka, get away from the door!" But it was too late. She was already trapped against it. Finding it behind her back, she tried to beat it open. I mentally slapped myself for not telling her earlier that the doors only open in. But I didn't have to tell her that's what they did. Crona told her for me.

"That's no good," he began. "You need to know your surroundings. The doors only open inwards."

"Maka, run!" I screamed! But I knew she couldn't hear me. I could hear Soul screaming at her too.

"Maka! Guard!"

I distinctly remember feeling Utashon pulling me back, then I remember the wind blowing by me as I ran forward. I had almost reached them when I saw Soul phase back to try and protect Maka. I missed grabbing onto the blade by just a mere millisecond. So I did the next best thing that I could think of at the time. I ran around to the front, and pushed both of my friends out of harm's way, falling right into the step of the blade's run. I felt the blade tearing through my skin as it cut directly through the right side of my abdomen. I looked down as I fell; about three inches of my left side held the top half of my body and the bottom half together.

I remember how hard the ground was as I hit it, and the huge puddle of blood around me. I saw Soul, now in his human form, running towards me. Utashon, was coming from the other side. No longer afraid, I'd watched as he had yanked Crona away from me. Using all of his might, Utashon had thrown Crona all the way to the other side of the chapel. Maka, was sitting staring horrified at me. Tears were streaming down her beautiful white cheeks. I couldn't move, everything hurt too bad. I looked up to see Soul and Utashon close to me, and I smiled for them. It wasn't a very good smile, kind of weak, but it was all I had left in me.

It didn't take long for my soul to slip away from my body. And I guess God had some weird trick playing up his sleeve, because after I left, my body hung there above the battlefield. I watched as Soul tenderly moved me, placing my head in his lap as he cried over my dead body. And Utashon grabbed my hand clutching it. My smile was still there, along with my eyes still being open. And there was so much blood, around me, still seeping out of my body.

Maka was on the opposite side of the chapel from the other two. She had fallen to her knees, and now she had her head resting against the floor, pounding her hand on the ground. Her body shook with sobs. And the bastard Crona had recovered from being thrown across the room, and was walking back across the room towards my friends. They didn't seem to notice, or care. That's when Stein-sensei came in. He too, like us, battled with Crona. He used my tactic, running the soul's wavelength straight into the kid's body. I didn't focus on the battle too much. I just watched as time seemed to pass by in a blur right before my soul lost consciousness, and I thought that I may finally be slipping away, to where I now belong.

But again, that was not the case, as I woke not long later in Shibusen's infirmary. I wasn't alone either. Three beds were laid out. I was in the middle one. The one on my right was occupied by Utashon. He sat with his head hung. He looked awful. He was hospital ridden because he had become so deeply depressed and shocked that he stopped taking care of himself, and couldn't be trusted to be left to his own devices.

In the bed on my right was Soul. According to what Maka had told all of our friends, Soul had angrily rushed back into battle to try and once again fight Crona. To no prevail. He had managed to only get himself hurt. He would eventually regain consciousness, but he would have a scar to always remind him of that day.

Maka frequently warmed the chair that sat between Soul and I's beds. She often would sit there and cry thinking that it's her fault this all happened. All I could do was sit there and watch her, because I was only a soul. Not even one that Maka could see.

I missed my friends so much that I hated still being tied to the living world. I watched many of the students paying me a visit. Several cried, shedding tears over my body. If only some of them knew I could hear what they were saying. After a few days Utashon had come out of his shock enough to kneel by my bed, unmoving. He held my head muttering every night, telling me how much he'd loved me, asking me why I'd left him. Soul slept for a week, before waking in the middle of the seventh night. Everyone was asleep apart from Utashon. When Soul woke, Utashon had pounded on him, beating his head as he screamed at him.

"It's your fault she died! She loved you! You son of a bitch! How she loved you, and you never once recognized her feelings! She died to keep you alive you bastard. Bring her back!"

I'd tried to stop him, but I couldn't touch him so it didn't help at all. Soul just lay there, allowing Utashon to hit him. He cried and took in what was being screamed at him before he turned to look at me once Utashon had stopped. Utashon cried on Soul, he seemed to be feeling better now that his true feelings were showing.

"I'm sorry," Soul whispered. Utashon apologized too for acting out of hand. Utashon finally went over to his bed to sleep. Soul slept too, and when they both woke in the morning, Maka had returned. The three of them cried around my body. I couldn't stand the sight. My soul cried as I watched them. I begged and pleaded to be taken away so that I wouldn't have to see them cry for me. I pounded the ground, hoping that the torture would end.

"I've done nothing wrong!" I screamed. "Why? Stop being so cruel, let me escape from this!" Nothing allowed me to get away from the heart wrenching pain I was surrounded with.

It wasn't until really late that Maka left, and Utashon decided to head home, finally, as well, against the nurse's wishes. When they were gone Soul sat up in his bed, dropping to his knees on the floor, and crawling over to my bed. He grabbed my hand and placed his head on the bed. He was obviously crying.

"I'm sorry Karin. For everything. I'm sorry that I ignored your feelings, and it led you to think you were responsible to save us back there," I was crying along with him now. "I'm sorry I couldn't return your feelings, because there is another girl I really like. If I could relive that moment, I promise you I would have gotten Maka and I out of the way, so that you could still be here. I'll miss you my friend."

I felt my strength come back to me slowly. When I looked down, my soul was brighter. I chuckled a bit and Soul looked over having heard me. I smiled a little at him.

"Hi Soul." I greeted.

Soul pushed against my bed, trying to get up. I watched him wincing in pain. He crossed the room to where I was standing and touched my shoulder. Realizing that my glowing form was mostly solid, he threw his arms around me, ignoring the pain. I wrapped my arms around him, returning his tight hug. I giggled through my tears pushing him back a little. He let go and looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry.."

"Don't be," I interrupted. "It was my decision. Nobody but me made the decision to stop my own life," I looked around. "I wish everyone could be here with us so I could tell them good-bye as well."

An idea struck him. "If your soul is still here, then can't you just slip back into your body? They fixed it up. It looks," he scrunched his nose up, "mostly the same as it did before. You've just got a huge scar now."

I chuckled at his antics. "I've been trying to get back in there for a few days. It's not like I've just been watching over all of you these past few days," I looked to my body. "But my body was damaged too much in the last battle for it to hold my soul in anymore," Soul dropped his head. "I'm sorry, but I really am dead Soul, and I can't come back."

I grabbed his chin and turned his head so that I could kiss his cheek. "I wish that I could have had the strength to do that when I was still alive," Soul looked flustered as he touched his cheek. "A few things I want to tell you before I leave. Soul don't be mad at your family. It never brings any good, and they're the only ones you have, so you might as well love them. And you look really cute with Maka, I hope it works out for you two, and you have a great life together."

He looked at me shocked. "How did you know that I like Maka?"

I smiled brightly at him. "You don't hide it very well, Love. Most everyone, excluding Maka, know that you are in love with her. Stop hiding it, and let her know," I chuckled. "I hid the fact that I love you, and look where I am now."

He cried and hugged me again. "Good-bye Soul," I said as he laid his head on top of mine.

"Don't leave," he whispered. But it was too late, my soul was quickly fading. It wasn't long until I was completely gone, and he was staring at the air. Clutching his chest, he walked over to the bed and crawled in. He took a breath to calm himself down before looking at where I had been standing, and still was standing. "Thank you," he whispered.

I let the breath carry out my whisper, and Soul heard me. "No, thank you."

He laid down in his bed, and peacefully fell asleep.

Maka and Utashon returned the next morning, with a few other people in tow. A casket was rolled in behind them. Soul, who had been awake for over an hour, sitting next to my body, growled when they tried to touch me. He slowly stood up, and though there were some protests from Maka, the nurse, the coroners and Utashon, he picked me up himself, kissing my forehead, and placed me gently in the casket. He held onto the side as they rolled me into the "Death Room" to meet with Shinigami-sama. I rode along inside the casket alongside my body.

Shinigami-sama noticed me, the soul, right off the bat. He looked at me and waved. He looked troubled as we approached him. "I regret sending the four of you on that mission," he said. "The three of you are now left with the emotional pain, one with a scar as a memory, and the fourth member is to lay dead along with many other bodies. Her soul still lingers around the body. Should we allow her to linger or set her free? I wonder."

Soul looked up to the headmaster. "I think we should set her soul free, so that she may be reborn, and live a full life as someone else," I reached out for Soul's shoulder, and felt his body tremor under my touch.

Shinigami-sama wasn't surpised to hear what Soul had to say, and looked down at my body. "Then this evening as we all are gathered around saying our final good-byes, we shall cremate her body and casket. Soul, since you are attached to the young meister, Karin-chan, would you like to make the decision for what we should do with her ashes."

I spoke to Soul, once again, using the wind to carry my words. "Karin would have like to have her ashes spread through the four winds just above the Great Barrier Reef. It is where she has always wanted to go. I have no doubt she would have picked the same fate for herself if she were able to speak."

Shinigami-sama nodded before coming down to touch my cheek and kiss my forehead. He smiled a little. "Rest in piece little one. You would have made an excellent three-star meister."

Soon enough we were back on the move and I moved around in the casket getting comfortable. They rolled me out to the front. I was placed in the middle of the patio at the top of the stairs. The bell rang signaling the end of class. All of my friends and classmates came out. Everyone in Shibusen was dressed in their finest. Each person who passed me made sure to at least touch my hand before heading home to grab their families and get ready for tonight. It was a beautiful sunny day. Utashon grabbed one of my hands and held onto it, talking to me.

"You know, it started raining the night you died. Not even ten minutes after we felt your soul leave your body. It didn't stop until sometime in the middle of the night last night. It was like the sky was crying over the loss of a great meister who could have saved several of human lives had she not given up her life this early," his voice cracked. "We're all going to miss you."

Soul had a grip on my other hand. He was listening to me babble on in the current of the wind. He smiled for me, showing me how far his strength could really stretch. Maka stood by my head holding the top of my casket as we watched all of the teachers set out tables. Off, near the entrance of the school they set up a picture of me on an easel. It was the one I had posed for last Christmas as Utashon painted it.

He rubbed his thumb on the back of the hand he had hold of. "When I painted that," he began, "I was planning on giving it to your parents as a Christmas present. But it just turned out so great that I wanted to keep it. I decided on giving it to you for your fifteenth birthday, but next week is never going to come for you, so I submitted it to the funeral decorators. I think it goes really well with all of the flowers they arranged around it."

Soul and Utashon crossed my hands back over my stomach and pushed my casket over to the shrine. It didn't take long for the sun to fall and the moon to rise. Then everyone began to show up with their families in tow. Classmates, friends, acquaintances, all crying and mourning with their families. Holding them close just in case they too might slip away in the blink of an eye. Kid, Patti and Liz cried with Shinigami-sama standing by, watching the other families. My family showed up, as well as Utashon's and they held onto him, all of them crying. Soul stood near the casket the entire time, since no one had come to mourn with him. Maka's father was also there, a man whom I had talked to without disgust. He cried for a lost friend, hoping that Maka might join him, but she too took a place around my casket.

Black Star and Tsubaki joined Maka and Soul around the casket, and soon even Kid, Liz and Patti had decided to join. Utashon joined the semi-circle around my casket, hands clasped behind his back in suit with the others. Each had their heads held high, crying openly. Many familes came together paying their final respects and giving my friends their condolences. The tables set out with refreshments remained untouched, no one could eat with the looming death around them, so fresh in the memory.

Closing in on midnight, Shinigami-sama announced that it was nearly time for the ending ceremony. I sighed as I looked over at my family. They were all still crying and huddling, and they looked so unhappy. Each one of them had said their final good-byes as I had tried to let them know that I was still here, if only for a bit longer. But I couldn't believe that my biological father hadn't come to say good-bye. I looked at the line. One person left. Excalibur said his good-byes, and then I saw Utashon, Soul, Kid and Black Star grab the casket, ready to take it over to where I would be cremated. But before they could lift it, one final person stepped up to me; and there he was.

Stein looked at me, smiling his crazy smile. "It was great to have you as a student Karin-chan. I hope that you have prevailed in death as well as you did in your time of living. A new adventure waits just ahead of you. I should only be so glad to have finally met you. I hope you're waiting on the other side to greet me, my daughter," He didn't shed a tear, but he wouldn't let his face be seen. He stepped back into his place in the right line. Utashon and Black Star lifted the left side of my casket, Kid and Soul the right. Maka and Tsubaki led the way to the graveyard, and Liz and Patti followed up behind.

There were two columns of people. One on the left and one on the right. With each duo we passed, they pealed back and followed behind our casket. The line led all the way down to the graveyard, where my family stood around the tomb covered in brances and twigs. A giant mob followed behind my casket, and my friends place me upon the tomb. They enclosed the circle with my family, having everyone continue in layers outside of their circle. Shinigami-sama was allowed through the circle up to where my body lay. He was about to lay down the torch when he heard a little voice.

Kid looked up at his father. "Honorable father, may I?"

Shinigami-sama nodded and handed the torch of to his son. Kid took it gracefully and walked forward, lighting the twigs and branches. The tears began to once again leak from his eyes, for no person should have to burn their friend. But he was strong enough to make it through the ritual. At last he placed the torch within my hands, inside the casket. My body instantly caught fire, and everyone watched the beautiful flames. My soul felt warm, but no so much that it was unbearable.

My friends held their heads up and cried as they spoke their final words to me. I hugged Soul and felt him shiver recognizing that it was me. None of my other friends recognized or even felt my touch. Nor did my family. But as I reached my father, who stood in the second circle, just behind my mother, he spoke to me. He could see me. I hugged him, and listened as he told me good-bye. He smiled his familiar smile and watched me. I could feel myself beginning to disappear.

"Don't you ever forget me," I scolded him. He just stood there.

After a while of looking at my burning body, I could see the ashes start to form, they would stop the fire soon and gather the ashes before setting the rest of the casket on fire. Then I would spread out over the one place I regret never having been to.

Then I felt a tug on my head and I realized that I was now floating in the air. It was time for my soul to let go of this world. And I did as I was commanded. I was finally allowed to be free. I gave me friends a last glance before closing my eyes, and letting my soul slip away from everything I had once known...