This was never meant to happen to me. I'm supposed to be better than this. How could this happen to me of all people? I'm the son of the Grimm Reaper. It was never meant to end like this. If my father could see me now, he would be appalled by how incredibly weak I really am. As a Shinigami, this isn't supposed to be happening. It wasn't happening. I was fairly certain I'd wake up back in the mansion and this was nothing more than a nightmare. But as much as I would like to believe that, I know that this is way too real to be a dream.

I tried to crawl away from my attacker, but to no avail. He was a lot stronger than I was in this state. He shoved me back into the dead-end wall of the alley. I didn't have enough strength to look at his face, instead allowing my neck to go limp and stared at the ground. The usual grey concrete around me and where I'd attempted to escape were coloured dark red, even in this bad light. A hand gripped the top of my head and forced me to look up, revealing my neck. I watched as the knife was raised high above my attacker's head. It glinted in the low light, blood (MY blood) dripping off it. My attacker brought it lower towards my vulnerable neck. I couldn't summon enough strength to fight back and awaited my inevitable death…

My father, Lord Death, had sent Liz, Patty and I on a mission in the nearest town outside of Death City. It wasn't anything unexpected. There were rumours of a kishin appearing in the town and killing locals. Any meister could have been sent, but Father believed that I needed a change in scenery. It's almost like he forgets that I have been sent to nearly every corner of the globe. However, I couldn't refuse his request. I had a feeling that if I had, Liz and Patty would have gone through the entire mansion and made everything asymmetrical. I couldn't risk it.

We had arrived later that day and booked into the hotel at which we would be staying. Father had been nice enough to find the only place that would make my room perfectly symmetrical for me. It was absolutely beautiful. Once we had unpacked, I used my Soul Perception to try and locate the kishin egg. I tried tirelessly for an hour, but I couldn't find anything. I was beginning to think that I just needed to move around.

I was walking down the streets of this little town at the dead of night (no pun intended). Liz and Patty had tried to convince me to let them come along, but I had simply told them that, when in human form, it may seem strange to see a young man and two women walking around late at night. In weapon form, many would become suspicious of a boy carrying twin pistols around. So, here I was walking around in the dead of the night on the side of town that happened to be furthest away from his weapon partners. Honestly, I should have seen what was coming next. If only I had allowed them to come.

I spotted a shadow move in the corner of my eye. I turned to face the spot where the shadow had been, turning my back on the real threat. Before my mind could comprehend what was happening, a hand grabbed the collar of my shirt and threw me into the wall at the end of the dark, narrow alley. The back of my head collided with the wall with enough force to fracture the skull. Had I not been a Shinigami, my skull would have been completely smashed in, probably killing me in no time.

I tried to get up and face my assailant, but a foot collided with my side, cracking a rib. The part of me that wasn't in pain was annoyed. Not only was I kicked, but I was only kicked on the right and not the left. Now the symmetry of my body is off. He would have to pay for that.

Trying once more to get up, a hand wrapped itself around my neck. I was pulled into the air as my attacker choked me, using the wall to keep me in place. I clawed at the hand trying to get loose, struggling to breath.

"You're going to die like a good little freak now," my attacker told me. His voice was gruff and scratchy, but he kept his face out of view.

Freak. That was the one thing I hated more than an unsymmetrical painting. Freak. People used to call me that because of my hair and heritage. Freak. I had gotten so used to the insult; I started using it on myself. Freak. I was one, but I wasn't going to let this guy get me down. Not now, anyway.

I tried to fight the guy off, and prove that I wasn't what he deemed a "Freak". I continued to struggle for breath, and never noticed the knife slashing through my chest until I felt the white hot pain. I tried to yell out in pain, but it got caught in my throat as my attacker's grip on my neck tightened. This was followed by several more, deeper cuts along my chest and stomach.

After what felt like years, he let me go, allowing me to drop to the ground. He obviously believed that I was dead, and so didn't pay any attention to me as I tried to move. My heritage had kept me alive. Any other, regular human being would be dead now, but not I. I had suffered severe blood loss and so any and all movements were slower than I would have liked. He turned his back on me, obviously thinking I was done for.

I tried to crawl away, but to no avail. After being thrown back at the wall, my skull was completely smashed at the back. I could feel the blood pouring down my neck, shoulders and back.

The man's hand was in my hair to keep me looking up. "You really are a huge freak," he spat out the word like poison.

Having been forced to look up, I watched the glinting knife come down at my neck. The pain was immense. My attacker left, knowing I'd bleed out in a matter of minutes or seconds, if I don't drown or choke on my own blood first. Death was certain.

I knew that my father would send people to come looking for me, when I didn't return to Death City in a couple of days. Therefore, I had decided to use my last moments to try and get a message out to those who will find me. I used my own blood to start writing, but failed to finish when the entire world went black.

"Kid?" a voice called out. "Kid? Kid?"

Groaning I opened my eyes and faced the direction of the voice. Not three steps away from where I sat, was none other than Black*Star. I smiled upon seeing him and stood up to hug him, wondering if last night was a terrible dream.

"Black*Star," I called out to the assassin, but he ignored me and continued to look at where I was previously seated. Confusion and curiosity gripped me as I looked back at what the bluenette might be staring at. My breath caught in my throat as I saw what it was. It was ME! Only this me was dead.

Everything started to click into place. I did actually die last night. That man had really killed me. The only reason I'm still here (more-or-less) is because of my attachment to something on this planet. My body and soul are gone from this world, but my spirit still lingers.

Father had told me about this. He told me that if one is attached to something or someone while they are alive, their spirit can remain attached even after death. Normally spirits are attached to objects or possessions. These spirits are doomed to walk the earth unseen, unheard and unfelt by anyone ever again. This type of spirit normally becomes restless and violent as time passes. Another type of spirit are those who are attached to living people. These have a possibility of being heard by those they are attached to. However, very few can be seen or felt. Only an extremely strong spirit can be seen and heard.

I was beginning to wonder what my attachment might be, when I heard Black*Star fall to his knees and start crying. He gripped my body's shoulders and started shaking them, crying out, "Come on, Kid. This is no time to take a nap. Everybody's worried about you."

The poor guy had gone into denial. He didn't want to believe that I was dead. It was completely understandable. If I was in his position, I would do the same. But I couldn't. I wanted to do nothing more than comfort the man in front of me and make him feel better, but I can't. Not like this.

Black*Star had burst into tears, soaking my body's blood stained shirt, muttering something about Stein being able to fix me up as good as new. The bluenette was literally falling apart right in front of me and I couldn't do anything. I could feel my heart shatter as the man I had fallen in love with fell apart before my very eyes. Tears threatened to fall down my cheek and a lump formed in my throat. Without thinking, I knelt down and wrapped my arms around the star.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled as the tears fell.

Black*Star couldn't see, hear or feel me, which made everything ten times worse. The star sat up and let my body go, causing me to let go of him. He looked at me – not my body; ME – and sighed. "I knew you were not really gone," he smirked a tear-filled smirk.

I was taken aback, my eyes widened. Could he really see me?

"You can see me?" I nervously asked.

Black*Star nodded, more tears falling down his face. "I knew you'd never leave," the star happily said as he hugged me. "Everybody else doubted it, when Lord Death told us his theory, but I never gave up hope." He let go of me and looked me in the eyes. "I love you, Kid."

I didn't notice the other tears that had fallen down my face. I quickly grabbed the star into a hug, saying, "I love you too."

We let each other go and sat staring at each other for less than a minute when Tsubaki came by, obviously looking for Black*Star.

"Black*Star, where are you?" I heard her call out as she rounded the corner and came face-to-face with the sight in front of her. She stopped dead in her tracks and placed a hand over her mouth in shock. I could hear a faint, "Oh my God," escape the weapon's mouth.

Wanting to test a theory that had been plaguing my mind for a while, I stood up and walked over to the girl. She didn't seem to acknowledge that I was there. That must mean that only Black*Star can see me.

"You should tell her to get the others," I told Black*Star, over Tsubaki's shoulder. "She can't hear or see me," I quickly explained, before he asked me questions and started looking like a loon. Black*Star quickly asked Tsubaki, putting on his best troubled teen act.

As Tsubaki left, Black*Star stood up and walked over to me.

I sighed. "I don't think any of the others will be able to see or hear me, or even feel my presence."

"That's okay," Black*Star smirked. "You'll be my secret, invisible boyfriend."

I chuckled at the thought of that. "Yeah, and I'll protect you as best I can."

"A big guy like me doesn't need to be protected," Black*Star yelled out to the world like he normally did. He hooked an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. "Besides, I know you'll always be there for me."

I smiled and kissed him gently, not wanting to make him look weird if the others returned before I noticed.

"I'll be your personal guardian angel."

A/N: this is my very first fanfic, so no hate. Only creative criticism please. I hope you liked it!