Ordered Chaos
By Cybra

Story Summary: Liz notices that Kid's acting shy around his new classmates. Upon learning of past childhood trauma during a failed attempt at integrating with his age mates as a toddler, she and Patty come up with a plan to help him feel more comfortable showing his reaper abilities around his classmates…and to show him off to the other Weapons.

Disclaimer: Soul Eater belongs to Atsushi Ohkubo.

Balance

Reapers were creatures of Order. As such, they had an innate sense of perfect balance. Not the left-right or up-down visual balance of symmetry (despite what Kid would go on and on about in the middle of one of his fits), but the ability to perch in places too precarious for humans to dare attempt or to simply put one foot in front of the other with no fear of either falling or tripping. Most people likely wouldn't have thought to call a male "graceful", but that was precisely what Kid was. It was one skill that high society valued that Kid hadn't needed to be formally educated on.

Liz would've given birth to the Madness of Jealousy were it not for the fact she got such a kick out of watching people react to it. Well…react to that and the many other strange abilities her Meister possessed.

Unfortunately, she was currently being robbed of her free entertainment. With Kid now starting classes at the DWMA, the young reaper had been much more reserved than normal. He even seemed to be working to try and avoid putting his powers on display. It'd taken her several days to work out the issue:

Kid was being shy.

It also explained why he'd been more neurotic than normal about being perfectly presentable or making sure the house was in order before leaving. Now those three hours they'd lost that first day made sense, and she felt a little guilty for not recognizing the problem sooner. The only reason he hadn't shied away from fighting Soul and Black*Star was because the duo had managed to slam their fingers down on every one of Kid's buttons and had sent him into a rage.

To be honest, it was a bit silly that her Meister who had faced down threats many times his small size without a hint of fear, the son of Lord Death himself, was acting shy towards his new classmates. One bribe of allowing him to give her the perfect mani-pedi later (not that it was much of a hardship given an authentic Death the Kid mani-pedi put five-star salons to shame), and she'd gotten the story of how his father had attempted to put him into a normal preschool and his powers had gone out of control from his nervousness on his first day. She'd grimaced as he'd told her of how he'd been labeled "monster" by the other children and the teachers alike, and his father had never sent him back. (She'd also mutely made a vow that if she ever met this "Mrs. Ferguson", she would beat the woman within an inch of her life. It'd be merciful given what Patty would've done if she ever found out.) Something like that happening when he was so young had definitely left a mark, and attending classes likely reminded Kid of that disastrous first day as a small child. Never mind that Kid had long since learned proper control, the anxiety brought on by the memory would be enough to bring out such shy behavior.

So Liz came up with a plan to allow Kid to show off without frightening everyone, proving to not just the other students but himself that he was no monster…no matter how bad of a beating he'd given Soul and Black*Star last month. Recruiting Patty to help had taken no effort or bribery at all. After all, there was one thing all Weapons had in common:

They loved to show off their Meisters.

PE was the chosen venue to showcase their Kid. Every other Friday was a sort of free period: As long as you were doing something physical, you could do whatever you wanted. Black*Star and Killik usually went all-out. Most others did something fairly simple so they could chat while they trained.

Liz had been asking Kid to help her with her own sense of balance for quite some time, so he didn't even bat an eye at her request they spend some time on the balance beam. Patty jogged around it as Kid lead her step by step along the length and back, shouting taunts at Kid while cheering on her sister. Liz felt a little mortified that Kid had to keep grabbing her to save her from falling, but she let her pride take the hit. If her plan worked, the young reaper's anxieties about attending school with human students would be calmed, and that would soothe her bruised ego.

A glance out of the corner of her eye showed people looking with interest in their direction as Kid walked smoothly backwards on the beam without having to check his footing before easily leaping over her to help her turn around and continue walking, twisting mid-air to face her as he did so. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth until they'd gained quite an audience without Kid's noticing…or if he did, he probably figured all eyes were on Liz, not on the balancing feats he performed so effortlessly.

"I need a break," Liz declared. "Give me a hand down?"

He took her hands in his, turning as she jumped down and using his grip to slow her fall.

Now came Patty's part.

"Do a backflip!" the younger sister cheered.

"A backflip?" Kid asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"It was so boring watching you and Big Sis just walk back and forth! Besides, you gotta do some exercising, too!" Patty exclaimed, jumping up and down and giving a few of the boys watching nosebleeds as her breasts bounced with her. "Do a backflip! No hands!"

Kid rolled his eyes but, as Liz had predicted, moved to oblige the younger pistol. One thing she and Patty had swiftly figured out about their odd little Meister was that he enjoyed spoiling them whenever possible be it with his time, his ridiculous amounts of money, or his abilities. So he did as Patty asked, performing three neat backflips in a row and landing on the balls of his feet at the very edge of the beam.

Before he could even think to dismount, Liz chimed in with "Somersault!"

Startled by the sudden request, Kid automatically fulfilled it. And the next one. And the next one. Forward flips, back flips, twists, spins, each maneuver the girls demanded was performed flawlessly with not a stumble or a moment of dizziness to be seen. The entire class stopped, jaws dropping all around as the girls kept calling for more, changing the rules from no-handed to both hands to one-handed to just fingertips. The Thompson sisters showcased their Meister like a handler might show off a particularly well-bred and well-trained dog only this dog met each of their demands with an amused and content smile at seeing their glee.

Liz smirked smugly at a group of female Weapons who'd made their disdain for the sisters and how they'd managed to land the Grim Reaper's son as a partner well-known. In a way, this wasn't just letting their Meister shine; it was also staking a claim: Kid was hers and Patty's, and they were his. Those who didn't like it could stuff it.

She then waved a hand carelessly. "All right, you can come down now. Just make it look good."

Kid gave a snort but obliged her request, performing three neat somersaults before landing perfectly between her and her sister. It was then that he finally noticed the audience.

"…Is there something wrong?" he asked all the gawking faces, blinking in confusion.

The twin pistols fell against him laughing, prompting him to catch and support them. His bewildered face made them laugh all the harder.

"That was rather petty of you, Liz," Kid scolded later after school.

She gave an unrepentant grin. "Did you see the look on Rebecca's face? Totally worth it. I'm guessing you bribed Patty into spilling the beans. What'd you have to give up?"

"Two chocolate chip cookies and one of those coloring books with the smaller parts to color inside of the larger picture. I think she might be taking a more serious interest in art." He paused. "Well, as serious as Patty gets with anything, I suppose."

"Maybe she is. She did make those napkin sculptures all the time at Deathbucks."

"She did. That and all the origami." Kid put a thoughtful hand to his chin. "Perhaps I'll see about getting her some clay, too."

"She'd like that." Liz's grin then softened. "Feeling any better?"

He blinked at her before his pale cheeks took on a rosy tint. He gave a sheepish nod. "I know it's silly…"

"You're only human…or at least close enough to it." She pulled him into a hug. "Showing off every now and then's okay. You're not gonna hurt anybody…well, unless somebody calls you out and then you can crush 'em."

He chuckled as he leaned into her hug, and she felt his soul wavelength rippling against hers. Even if he tried to resume his scolding later or gave her and her sister some lecture about not treating him like a trained seal, the feel of his soul contentedly purring made it all worthwhile.