Chapter One

The reaper hated being late. He hated being late more than anything, as a matter of fact. He hated that he was late on today of all days especially. Nevertheless, the dark haired boy straightened his collar, slipped on his shoes, and strolled briskly out of his manor at precisely 8:01 in the morning. Today the boy would be walking alone, of course. His weapons would already be at her house by now, gushing over the outfit she would wear to today's event. Kid could practically see the two blondes fainting over Maka's selective amount of clothing. The idea brought a small smile to his lips, which he removed at once. It was extremely unlike Kid to think of anyone in such a way, especially when he happened to be thinking of the different variations of cute clothes she could wear to her party.

Kid once again wiped the smile, and the thoughts, away. There was no doubt in the boys mind, that ashy haired scythe master was important to him. But to allow himself to feel such tedious emotions as attraction was far away from Kid's normal schedule. Still, every now and then the boy couldn't help but to think about her. They way her nose crinkles up whenever she smiles, or how the tinkling sound of her laugh could make even the hardest man crack a smile. Even the sounds she makes when she's angry cause Kid to feel a warmth deep inside of him, a warmth he wish would disappear.

Maka had long before today been 'claimed' by Soul. 'Claimed'. That was literally the word the scythe had used to describe his relationship with the girl to Kid. It was after school one day, a certain day when Kid had complimented Maka on scoring high on a particularly difficult exam. That day Soul had pulled him aside and conveyed his light threat onto Kid. The thought of Soul causes a bitter taste to appear on Kid's tongue, but he quickly pushes the taste away as he approaches the apartment building he knew she lived in.

24 steps and exactly 8 knocks later Kid found himself face to face with the silver head of hair he had just been mentally cursing, the air became surprisingly heavy with tension once their eyes met. They didn't speak, they didn't need to. Everything they could ever hope to say to each other certainly couldn't be explained through simple words. Kid could see the tinge of hatred mixed with the uncomfortableness of the situation flowing through Soul's eyes but didn't return the feelings. In fact, Kid just stood there, staring at Soul as if he couldn't really see him. The boys remained there, one glaring daggers, the other looking as if he was dreadfully bored, until a curious blue haired boy smashed through a door to examine the situation.

"Soul! What's taking so long? You've been gone forever!" The boy yelled in a voice Kid could not accept as suitable for the indoors. "Oh, hey Kid. Try not to slow us down alright? We're doing important stuff over here!"

The reaper didn't ask, mainly because he didn't care, but the black hair weapon intervened before he could push it aside.

"They're having an arm wrestling tournament back there." Tsubaki said in a weary voice from the hallway.

The unstoppable smirk spread across Kid's face as he pushed past Soul's locked gaze and looked around the kitchen for Maka. The kitchen was surprisingly clean for once, it actually looked like no one had been in there for a while. Kid became aware of the fact that he couldn't sense Maka's soul in the building, he didn't know why it took him so long to realize it, but neither the girl or his weapons seemed to be anywhere near here.

"She's not home." Soul said in a bitter tone. "They went to the store, something about Maka's outfit not being good enough or something."

Kid cleared his throat and straightened his collar again. "I can see that. I'll prepare some tea while she's gone, I'm sure you'll all want some as well. Am I correct?" Kid said in an almost sarcastic tone.

The chorus of agreements almost caused Kid to bust into laughter. No matter the occasion, his group of friends always seemed to skip right over his playful jabs at their intelligence. Waving away the joke he made, Kid crossed the room and busied himself with preparing the finest tea he possibly could. A series of loud bangs and the unmistakeable sound of wood breaking alerted Kid to the fact that they had begun their tournament again, forgetting him in the process.

The sudden air of emptiness that flooded the room didn't bother the reaper at all. He enjoyed being alone really. When he was alone he could be as nit picky as he wanted to be, he could even experiment with things he had thought about when he would drift off during lectures. For instance, now the reaper was preparing the tea by using exactly 8 tea leaves, and 8 cups of water. He knew the tea would be too strong, it could possibly be inedible for all he knew, but he didn't care, because he was alone, and that was all that mattered.

"Don't you think that will make the tea too strong?" A voice reached him from behind.

The son of death surpressed the urge to jump out of his shoes and accidentally let out a small yelp of fear that he covered hastily with a sudden clearing of his throat. "Yes, I just wanted to see just how delicious symmetrical tea would taste. I can always make more if you'd rather have regular tea, it is your big day after all, birthday girl." He said in a calm voice.

He heard the girl sigh behind him but did not turn around. "Don't remind me. You know, your weapons have been dressing me up in all kinds of dresses and ridiculous outfits all day? I don't see what the big deal is really." She huffed.

Kid couldn't see her, but he knew from her voice that she had her arms crossed. She was probably glaring to one side at the wall, tapping her foot in an irritated fashion like he'd seen her do so many times at Black Star before.

"I agree with you. I mean, you should be allowed to wear what you want for goodness sakes." He said in a neutral tone, handing her a cup of tea. Her felt butterflies fill his stomach when he saw her smile at him, he considered returning her smile, but remembering where they were he decided against it. "Oh and by the way, they're in the back having an arm wrestling tournament. I can't tell what they've broken so far, but it was made of wood."

The following sounds that filled the apartment were Soul's complaints while Maka hit him with what sounded like a large leather-bound book. Kid stood alone in the kitchen, sipping his tea quietly and hating how bitter the abundance of tea leaves made it taste.

Hello once again all! I know, it's been so long...And I'm not even posting an update to my original story, The Girl With Green Eyes. Trust me, I have more coming and hope to post it sometime tomorrow, but my laptop is down for the moment so I cannot tell how long it'll be exactly! Bear with me please! Anyways, this is another KiMa story that I hope to actually finish pretty quickly. Reviews are always welcome as well as any other comments you may have!

As always, see you again soon!

~Misa