Chapter II:

Shi-chan: Death the Kid has a sister?

The next morning, Kid awoke to the sound of the mailman at the front door. He awoke immediately, and ran outside to meet him,

"Damn you!" Kid yelled as he saw the mailman putting the mail into the mailbox, "Have you ever heard of equally dividing the mail?!"

The mailman looked terrified.

Calmer, Kid snatched the mail out of the mailman's hands, "Here, let me show you how to divide the mail into both mailboxes."

"But…" the mailman started.

"Then, maybe you'll get it right!" Kid said, smacking the mailman with the mail.

"Oof!"

"My apologies," said Kid quickly, "I merely got carried away, shall we try that again?"

"Ugh," Liz groaned, stuffing her face under her bed sheets, "It's too early in the morning to be this insane!"

Liz got up, and trudged sleepily outside, where Kid was finishing off with the mailman,

"And you simply put the flags up at a complete ninety-degree angle, you see?" Kid measured it with his protractor.

"That's way too complicated for one stop…" the mailman said quietly, too put out to really get serious.

Kid turned to him, "Nothing's too complicated for symmetry!" Kid said.

"Hey Kid!" Liz yelled, "Let the poor guy do his job, will you?"

"Oh, good morning Liz," said Kid, looking to her as the mailman slowly edged away, "It's quite early in the morning for you to be up. Is something wrong?"

"Just get the mail…" Liz said, trYin to keep her cool.

As they made their way back into the house, Kid looked carefully through every letter or magazine they had received,

"Looks like Justin, and Azusa made it back home okay…" said Liz, looking over his shoulder.

"That's good." Kid said.

"Huh, Patty received a post card from Giraffe Emporium," said Kid. He and Liz exchanged looks.

"What's the Giraffe Emporium?" Liz asked, "Isn't that kind of a sucky name?"

"Probably," Kid said, "But I don't care to find out."

He tossed it into the trash can.

He flipped to a post card, "What's this?" he said, looking at the roses design acrossed it with a kiss mark on it.

Liz's eyes flared, and she snatched the post card up and started ripping it to shreds.

"Liz? Are you alright?" Kid asked.

"Hm? Oh, sorry…" said Liz, "It's just that… never mind, it doesn't matter."

Kid looked questioningly at her, and then looked down at the next letter, which was stamped black with a skull,

"N-N-No…this… can't be…" he whimpered.

"What is it, Kid?" Liz asked, "Why have you gotten paler all of a sudden?"

Black Star stood at the top of the trees, looking out at all the destruction he'd caused around him. Most of the trees in this side of the forest were gone, and holes were everywhere. The trenches were so deep fossils were sticking slightly out of the ground.

Black Star was panting, "Still…not good enough… damn it…" he said.

"Black Star…" Tsubaki said, "Maybe we should stop, and go get some rest…"

"Resting's for cowards!" Black Star yelled, "Yah…!"

Black Star then fell, sliding down the tree, hitting several branches on the way down.

"Black Star!" Tsubaki cried.

She quickly turned into regular form, and caught Black Star around the middle, struggling slightly under his weight.

"He overdid it a bit…" Tsubaki sighed, resting his head in her knees as they landed on a firm piece of ground below them.

"Hey Maka," Soul said as they made their way down the street, "Maybe we should do something with Black Star and Kid today. We haven't played any basketball in a while…"

"Yeah…" said Maka, "I think we might feel a little bit better about Asura if…"

Soul looked at her.

"Umm…" Maka saw his face, but Soul grinned, his shark-like teeth pointed and shiny,

"Exactly." he said.

"Hey Kid!" Maka called outside of Kid's house, "You wanna play some basketball?!" She, and Soul had both quickly ran home and gotten into some outdoor clothes so they could play basketball.

Liz and Patty stuck their heads out of either side of the door as it opened,

"Hey Maka, Soul!" Liz called, "Come on in!"

Patty giggled.

Maka and Soul exchanged looks.

Kid was sitting in the middle of the couch, staring at a post card in his hand.

"Hey Kid," Maka said casually, "What're you staring at?"

Kid looked up, "Maka, Soul…" he seemed put out, "Hello… um… is there something you needed?"

"Ugh," Liz said, "You've been staring at that post card for half an hour. When are you going to explain what your problem is?"

"Oh…" Kid stared at the post card, and then shoved it quickly in his pocket, "Never mind that. It's just a family matter..."

You mean he has other family members? Soul asked himself.

"Anyway," Kid said, looking up at them, "Is there something you wanted?"

Maka and Soul exchanged glances, and grinned.

Soul held out a basketball, "Basketball anyone?" he offered.

Kid blinked at it, and then smiled smally.

"Oh, alright." he said.

"Hi Tsubaki!" Maka greeted Black Star and Tsubaki outside their house as they finished breakfast, "Do you guys wanna play some basketball?"

Tsubaki and Black Star looked at them.

Half an hour later, the seven of them were on the court, jumping wildly around and laughing at one another for making all kinds of funny mistakes. Liz and Patty were both being pretty competitive for them, and Black Star just bragged about himself while he snatched the ball from Tsubaki, who always meekly let him have it,

"No Tsubaki," Black Star said, "Don't be a wuss! You can't let me have it! I've gotta gain it on my own."

"Sorry, Black Star." Tsubaki said, smiling.

Kid looked the happiest then all of them had seen in a while, but it was all an act,

I wish she wasn't coming right now, he thought, My younger sister… I haven't seen her in two years now…

Finally, after a day long's worth of basketball, everyone parted ways, a good deal of stress off their shoulders.

"Soul," Maka said a little while later.

Soul looked at her.

"That was a really good idea."

Soul grinned, "Yeah." he said.

"But…"

"What is it?"

"Do you remember who won?"

Soul shrugged, "Stopped caring when Black Star ran into the basketball hoop."

Maka laughed, "Yeah," she said, "And did you see how happy Kid looked?"

"Of course. Even though I'm not all that sure if it was real or not."

"Yeah…" said Maka trailing off, and then coming back, "Something sure seemed to be bothering him."

"Maybe we should ask him."

"Yeah…maybe…"

"Oh that reminds me, Kid," Liz said suddenly remembering, "Who sent you that post card earlier? It seemed to be giving you a pretty rough time."

"Hm?" Kid turned to her, "Well, for a second there…" he made up a quick lie, "I thought there were too many white roses on the left, then there were on the right, but I was just imagining things."

"You're lYin." Liz said immediately.

"Wha-? No I'm not!" Kid said frantically, "I just…"

"Uh-uh, Kid." Patty said, "When you have a symmetry break-down, you start yelling about how bad you are."

Kid looked quickly at her.

"And she's absolutely right, Kid," Liz said, "So what's up with you?"

I need to stop spending so much time with these girls before they start learning how to interpret my father and I's private conversations, Kid thought,

"Well…" Kid decided to tell them, "It was from my younger sister."

"From your younger sister?" Liz said, "Well, why didn't you tell us?"

"Well," said Kid, "For one thing, she's insane."

"You're insane" said Liz, pointing at him.

"Another thing, she has balance issues," Kid shivered.

"You have balance issues," said Patty pointing at him as well.

"Another thing…" Kid was trembling bad now. He looked terrified at the thought of seeing his sister.

"Kid, so far she sounds just like you," Liz said, "How bad can she be?"

Kid freaked out at this one, "HOW BAD COULD SHE BE?!" he said, "You don't understand! She's the most asymmetrical, unbalanced, frustrating person I've ever met!"

"You're unbalanced in the head." Liz commented.

Kid fell on the ground, completely put out,

"She's going to break me Liz, Patty, I know it. She's going to break me, and all that will be left of me is my damned white hair lines."

"Now, now, Kid," Liz said, "You're going to be fine." she rubbed his head gently, "As your weapon I promise I'll keep you perfectly safe."

"You can't keep anyone safe from a Grim Reaper." Kid said depressedly.

"Well, you're just a ray of sunshine, aren't you?" Liz said, getting annoyed, "Here I am, trYin to make you feel better, and you're sitting in the middle of the street feeling sorry for yourself."

But this only made matters worse.

"Damn myself to hell, you're absolutely right!" Kid slammed his hands on the ground, "I'm a despicable reaper, and I do not deserve to live! I don't deserve to have you and Patty as my weapons, I should just die now! I'm disgusting! I want to destroy myself for even existing in the presences such good weapons."

"Go boom!" Patty yelled excitedly.

Liz sighed, and put her hand on Kid's shoulder, "Come on Kid, you know we don't feel that way about you."

Kid stopped moving, so Liz kept talking,

"If it wasn't for you Kid, Patty and I would still be two good-for-nothings on the street mugging people for a living," Liz smiled at him, "You took us in when we had nowhere else to go Kid. You're a really kind-hearted person."

Not really, Liz thought, He just wanted us because we were perfectly symmetrical weapons. After all, he is still the Grim Reaper's spoiled son, but she'd say whatever she had to.

Kid didn't say anything.

"Kid?" Liz said, "Maybe we should go home now, what do you think?"

"What's wrong, Kid?" Patty asked, getting on his other side.

"Was one of the rocks on the ground too much to the left?"

Then, Kid slowly got to his feet,

"No…um…let's go," he said, and without looking at them, walked in the direction of their house.

Liz and Patty looked at each other. Was something wrong?

"Black Star?" Tsubaki called. She was looking through all the trees. He had gotten really good at silencing his breath. She couldn't sense him at all. In all those months of hard work, Tsubaki was really proud of him.

"Tsubaki!" a voice called at the top of the trees.

Tsubaki looked up, and expected to see Black Star, waving at the top of the trees, about to brag about his newest accomplishment, but it wasn't. It was Sid, and he had Black Star slung over his shoulder,

"What happened to him?" Tsubaki cried as Sid landed, and put Black Star on the ground in front of her.

"Not sure," said Sid, "I just found him in the middle of the forest while trYin to patrol the school. I couldn't just leave him there. That's not the type of man I was."

"I see," Tsubaki said, "Thank you, Mr. Sid, I can take it from here."

"Hey," Sid said as he turned to go.

"Yes?"

"Make sure you take care of that kid," he said, looking at Black Star, "He's pretty reckless."

"Oh, I know…" Tsubaki said.

Sid said nothing more, and jumped into the trees.

At that moment, Black Star stirred, and opened his eyes upside down at Tsubaki.

"Oh Black Star," Tsubaki said, "Why?"

Black Star smirked,

"Because," he said, "I'm an idiot."

The next morning the Sun was being covered up by a big array of clouds, and it did not look too happy about it. Maka sat in Miss Marie's classroom, and listened to her teach happily. Even after Asura's defeat, she'd stayed around for some reason, probably since Oceana was so quiet she figured she didn't need to be there anymore. Also, she probably wanted to stay close to Professor Stein, Maka let herself smile at the thought.

"By the way class," Miss Marie said excitedly, "Did you know we're going to have a new student soon?"

Kid squirmed in his seat. She was enrolling too?

"No way," Maka said, "If it's a new student then it means we're going to have two students. So who is it?"

Miss Marie looked confused, "I'm not really sure yet," she said, "But I know they're going to be pretty high-skilled."

"Just like you were, huh Kid?" said Soul, turning to Kid.

"I am nothing like this person," Kid said, horrified.

Soul stared at him for a second, shrugged, and went back to shirking his work.

The next few days flew by quickly.

The most interesting thing was Black Star kept talking about how he was going to kick the new talented kid's ass,

"If that guy even tries to make me, and my awesome prowess look bad, I'll blow him away with my new double Soul Resonance!" he bragged.

"Keep bull-shitting yourself." Soul told him.

"I'll kick your ass too, if you don't watch it, Soul!" Black Star warned him.

"Oh yeah? Bring it on!"

They were touching faces. Then, the two of them both started laughing.

"Seriously though, Soul," Black Star said, "We need to teach this guy who's boss, you got it?"

"Of course," Soul said, "But don't forget Black Star, last time we did that to somebody, we got our ass-kicked."

"By a grim reaper," said Black Star, pointing at Kid, "But this time, we'll lay this guy's ass down."

"You got it!" Soul said.

"YEAH!" they both screamed.

"Maka Chop!"

Maka's book came down hard on both Soul, and Black Star.

"Ouch!"

"Ow! What was that for, Maka?"

"Shut up!" Maka said. She looked over at Kid. Soul and Black Star hadn't noticed, but he was shaking.

"Something wrong, Kid?"

Kid got up, "No," he said, "I… I feel a bit ill. I'm going home."

He turned, "Liz, Patty, pick up my homework assignments for me, will you?"

Liz's expression saddened, "Yeah…" she said.

"Uh-huh." Patty's expression was unreadable.

Kid walked away, waving goodbye to them.

"What's wrong with Kid?" Maka asked.

"It's…it's the new student," said Liz, "It's his kid sister!"

Everyone looked shocked.

"His kid sister?" Black Star said, "Is she hot?"

Maka hit him.

"I didn't even know Kid had any siblings," said Tsubaki, "I mean, does he even have a mother?"

"I've always wondered that myself," said Maka.

"Well," Liz said, "The thing is, a couple years ago, Kid and his younger sister had a fight about who would take over the Grim Reaper's spot when he passed on."

"Sounds harsh…" said Soul, "And Lord Death was cool with that?"

"That's the thing," said Liz, "He wasn't okay with it. So he made an arrangement with their mother for them to separate for a little while, so she kept Kid's sister, and sent Kid to Death City."

"Must've been hard sending your kid away," said Maka, "So where's their mom now?"

"From what Kid knows, she might be coming to Death City too…" said Liz.

Maka bit her lip, and everyone looked at her,

"I don't understand," she said, "Why wouldn't they already live in Death City?"

"Too many reapers together in one place?" Tsubaki suggested.

Black Star shrugged.

Soul didn't do anything.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that?" a voice asked.

They all turned.

Professor Stein was standing there, behind all of them, eyes glistening light green in the light.

"Come with me," Professor Stein said. He waved his hand, and motioned them to follow.

Kid was sitting on the couch, spreading himself equally apart. Maybe some reaper yoga would take off some of his stress, he decided.

So he got down on the carpet, and did a number of yoga poises,

The gliding cape.

The shrieking bat.

The dYin prim rose.

The death inside of a coffin.

Kid relaxed himself. He felt better, and more flexible. He would've wiped his sweat away, but as a grim reaper he was unable to sweat. At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

Kid straightened himself. Even if he was totally worried about his sister's arrival, he still had to look good for his father. He went to the door, opened it, and found himself face-to-hat with the one and only:

Excalibur.

"Oh, damn it to hell, what do you want?" Kid asked, feeling the unpleasant face come upon him quickly.

"Fool!" Excalibur pointed his cane at Kid, "I've come to offer you the biggest deal of your life!"

"No, I do not want to be your partner." Kid said, feeling that sense of peace he'd been feeling blow away like a pleasant smell with an extremely ghastly smell.

"Fool!" Excalibur said, "I do not require your empathy!"

"That doesn't even make any sense." Kid said, wishing he'd go away.

"Fool!" Excalibur almost hit Kid in the face with the cane.

Oh, I find him so revolting, Kid thought.

"Thank you, Mr. Excalibur," a voice off to the side of the door said, "But I've got it from here."

"Fool!" said Excalibur as Kid's sister came into view. She had thick dark hair with eyes similar to Kid's, a highly light colored yellow. Her hair was very wild, and too much was off to the left than there was to the right. She wore a white shirt, a long black coat, and regular pants.

"Sh-Shinu!" Kid stammered, "I thought you were coming tomorrow!"

"Well, I was…" said Shinu, "In fact, I was going to come on time, because I know how you like everything to be balanced…"

As it should, Kid thought.

"But I met Mr. Excalibur, and he said he was going to Death City too, so I thought it'd be a safe idea to come with him," she lowered her voice, "He's annoYin, isn't he?"

Kid just stared at her, blank expressioned.

Shinu smiled at him, "Come on," she said, "I need to go tell father that I'm here so he can let mom know I'm okay."

"Yeah…" Kid said, letting her take his hand, "How is mom, anyway?"

"Oh, she's doing wonderful!" Shinu enthused, "She sends you her regards, and says to keep father straight."

"Yeah." Kid thought about his mother, and how much he missed her.

And how much it was his fault.

Stein led Maka and the others to Lord Death's office, where Lord Death was sitting, and waiting,

"Howdy do, howdy do folks!" he said.

"Lord Death," Maka said, "What's this about?"

"Well…" said Death, "I've noticed lately how unhappy my son's been; and since I know he won't listen to me, I could just tell you about it, and you can tell him for me!"

"So…" Liz said, "You're basically only telling us so we can do your job for you?"

"Exactly!" Death said cheerfully.

A set of chairs appeared in front of them, "You might want to sit down for this." he said.

They all sat down.

"What's this all about, Lord Death?" Maka asked.

"Well…" Lord Death didn't look too pleased to tell this, "A few years ago, my young son and daughter fought over who would be the Grim Reaper…"

Maka nodded.

"But really, I'd been planning on handing the title over to Kid. I didn't know Shinu had wanted it too."

"So a sibling rivalry formed between the two of them." Soul said. Maka looked curiously at him. It wasn't like him to be so interested in stories like this.

Death nodded grimly,

"Unfortunately," he said, "And basically the two began to fight practically every day."

"Hold on a second," Black Star said, "If you're immortal, then what's the point of passing down the grail to your kid, huh?"

Lord Death ignored him.

"Also," Lord Death said, "There were becoming some major complications with having my wife here, in Death City. So, she couldn't just bring the two of them to me, and have me deal with them."

"What kind of complications?" Maka asked suspiciously.

"Well," Lord Death looked disturbed, "As the King of Death, one radiates quite a lot of energy…"

"I get it!" Black Star said, "It was becoming too dangerous for your wife because of enemies, and since she's so important to you, it was too dangerous for her to be around you anymore! I totally get it, perfect deduction from the great Black Star, as always."

Everyone looked awed.

"Nothing of the sort," Lord Death said, and then he raised his fist, "Now quit interrupting me before I give you a good smack in the face with this colossal thing!"

Black Star shut up. Even if he was going to surpass God, he still didn't want to get smacked.

"Anyway," said Lord Death folding his arms, and looking quite official (except for the humongous hand sticking out.), "The energy I radiate, and the energy she radiates is much too much (Maka got a migraine) for the barrier of Death City to handle. If she stays here, the barrier that sealed Asura would be destroyed."

"Wait," Maka said, "Asura's dead. So, why do you still need the barrier? Besides, wouldn't that mean you could go outside again?"

The Grim Reaper suddenly looked frozen. They all stared at him for a while,

"D-Does… would that… well, maybe…" he said, "But only if… no wait…"

"Anyway," said Professor Stein, suddenly interjecting, "Let's not stray from the main part of the story. Kid and his sister Shinu broke family ties with each other a long time ago, and now they're back together."

"They are?" Maka said surprised.

"Hello daddy!" a voice called as she entered the mirror, "I missed you so much!"

Shinu was even more impressive looking than Maka had expected.

She… looks so much like Kid! But she's… way different! Maka thought in utter shock.

"Hello father," Kid said as he entered as well, "It seems Shinu has arrived."

"I see that," Lord Death said happily, "Thank you Kid! You're such a good son!"

"Yeah." Kid said shortly.

"Fool!" Excalibur came in next, bopping his cane, which he smacked into Kid's head.

"Damn you! Watch where you swing that thing!" Kid told him angrily.

"Hello everyone," Shinu said, bowing to every one of Maka's friends, including Maka herself, "I am Shinu, Lord Death's daughter. It's a pleasure."

"Hi," said Maka smally, waving with a twinge of uncertainty pricking at the back of her neck.

"Nice to meet you, Shinu," Liz said, "I'm Liz Thompson, your brother's weapon."

"Nice to meet you," Shinu greeted cheerfully. She was awful cheery for a daughter of Lord Death. Though Lord Death wasn't all that sad or depressing himself.

"Shinu," Death said, lifting his humongous hand, and placing it on her head, "I'm very happy to see you, my daughter."

"As I am to you, dad" Shinu said, tears in her eyes, "It's been too long."

"Two years to be exact." Kid muttered.

"Oh that's right," Shinu said, "I forgot to tell you, mother and I went to Rome a few months ago. It was, well the part that wasn't ripped apart of course, very um… what was that word you used to always say again…um…"

"Symmetrical?" Kid asked, looking very annoyed.

"That's right!" Shinu said, "I took a picture, look!"

She pulled out a picture of a carefully crafted building. Shinu was standing at the front, beside a fountain.

"It's…it's…" Kid stared at it.

"Well?" Shinu said, looking pleased that she'd impressed her brother.

"It's beautiful!" Kid cried, and then he looked at it again, "But wait…"

"What is it?" Shinu asked, suddenly feeling cautious.

Kid was focusing in on the picture. He took it out of Shinu's hands, and studied it,

"Hmm…" he said.

"Is it not symmetrical then?" Shinu asked.

"It's not that," Kid said, looking seriously at her, "Shinu, who took this picture?"

"Well um…" Shinu thought a second, "Yang did."

"And who is this Yang?" Kid asked.

Shinu sighed, looking as if she really didn't want to do something she was about to do. She reached inside her jacket, and pulled out a long black dagger with curved sides. She threw it,

"Finally!" a voice said. Immediately, the dagger turned into a pale boy, about the same age as Soul, but taller, and with ice white eyes and black hair. He had a very exasperated expression, "I haven't transformed into normal form in a while…"

"Oh shut up," Shinu told him, "Nobody likes you."

"Nobody likes you, you whore!" said the boy affronted.

Shinu hit him across the head, "Don't talk to me like that!" she told him.

Kid walked up to Yang, who looked creeped out,

"What?" he asked.

"You," Kid said, "Have great balance when holding a camera good sir!"

Kid brandished the picture in everyone's face, "Look at it!" he said, "It's at the complete center!"

Kid shook Yang's hand, the latter of who looked totally confused.

"Wonderful!" Kid said, "Absolutely wonderful!"

"Uh…" Yang looked completely confused.

Lord Death smiled with delight,

"How nice how everyone's getting along!"

"Oh brother," Liz sighed, staring at Kid, "He's totally insane."

"He's still bothered though," Patty pointed out.

"Yeah…" Liz sighed.

"So dad," Shinu said, when things had finally calmed down, "Where am I going to be staYin while I'm here?"

Kid suddenly jumped in alert.

"That's easy sweety," Lord Death said, "You can just stay with Kid!"

Of course, Kid heaved a sigh,

"I suppose…" he said sulkily.

"Wait a minute," Liz said, "That's not fair, Lord Death! Shinu comes in all of a sudden, and you're asking your son to take care of her! On top of that, they're still having a family feud…"

"But…!" Shinu said quickly, but Kid spoke up,

"Shinu's my younger sister Liz I can't just turn her away. Besides, this might be a good time to fix our broken bond."

Maka stared seriously at him.

"But…" Patty started, even she looking worried about him.

"It's alright, really girls."

Liz and Patty exchanged glances, and then looked at him. He didn't look like the Kid they normally knew. He looked older, more serious, scary.

"Shi-chan," Shinu said, turning to Kid, "I don't have to stay with you, you know."

SHI-CHAN?! everyone thought bewildered. Soul and Black Star snorted.

"It's fine, Shinu!" Kid said, "Besides, we need to catch up. Don't we?"

Shinu stared at him a long while, and then smiled.

"Yeah…" she nodded. Then, she took Kid's hand.

As Kid and Shinu got up to leave, Maka stood up abruptly, and slammed her hands fiercely on the table. She looked mad. Her green eyes were burning,

"Kid!" she said.

Kid turned back to her, looking disturbed.

Maka walked over to him from her chair, coming until she was inches between herself, and Kid.

She punched him in the arm,

"You moron!" she yelled, "You should've told us about your sister earlier! Soul and Black Star keeping a secret from us is one thing, but from you is just unheard of! Don't ever force your father to have to explain it to us again! Do you understand?"

Kid stood there frozen for a moment, and then his face became more serious,

"Sorry to make you worry," he said, "Everyone…"

"Come on now, Shi-chan!" Shinu said, "Come on Liz! Yang, come on!"

Liz followed them, waving goodbye to everyone. Patty followed.

Then, Shinu froze,

"Wait a second," Shinu said, turning to Kid, "You have two weapons?"

"What of it?" Kid asked, folding his arms.

Shinu grinned, "We must think alike or something," she said, reaching into her coat, "Because we both have two weapons!"

She pulled out a white dagger in the same shape the black one had been. She threw it and out popped a boy identical to Yang, except he had black eyes and white hair, and his suit was white, while Yang's suit was black. The basic Yin-Yang symbol,

"Good day, madam!" the boy said, bowing to Shinu, "How can I be of assistance?"

"Wuss…" Yang muttered.

The other boy ignored him.

"Oh…my…goodness…" Kid gasped, looking to either one of the two twins, "They…they're…"

Kid was panting in excitement.

"KID!" Liz smacked him on the back.

"THEY'RE SO PERFECTLY SYMMETRICAL!" he yelled, "How wonderful!"

Shinu smiled uncertainly, "You can have them." she told him.

Oh no, Liz realized. We're gonna be replaced! And become Kid's sister's toys that never change back!

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Kid said seriously, "I wouldn't be able to take their black-white color switch in weapon form; on top of that…"

He looked at Yin and Yang,

"They're completely un-color coded!" Kid cried.

"You mean you were actually thinking about it?" Liz asked him.

Kid looked uneasily at her.

"I'm glad their colors are different!" Shinu said defendently at him, "It makes them unique from one another!"

Yin blushed. Yang folded his arms, and pushed his hair out of his face.

Kid looked infuriatedly at her, "How disgusting!" he said, "Unbalanced sides! You're fighting with absolute unbalanced weapons!"

"Like I care what you think!" Shinu said, "Symmetry's just another way of saYin un-unique! What's the point of having something the same on the right side as it does on the left? How boring!"

"I see!" Kid said angrily, "You're looking for uniqueness! Is that why your hair is a complete abomination? One day you're going to find yourself leaning much too much to the left!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Shinu sighed, folding her arms, "Besides, I couldn't dye my hair any other color other than black, so I wanted something different…"

"That's disgusting!" Kid said.

"Um… Kid?" Liz said.

"Shinu…" Yang said exasperatedly.

"I can't believe you're going to be the Grim Reaper one day!" Shinu told him.

"Stop fighting," Lord Death's voice pierced everyone's ears. Shinu and Kid both fell silent.

"Sorry father," Kid said, "We're acting like children. Sorry Shinu…"

"I…" Shinu glanced at Kid, "I'm sorry Dad, Shi-chan."

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then, Lord Death spoke,

"Now, now," he said, "No need for apologies. After so long, I can only expect the two of you to be confused on one another."

Kid and Shinu exchanged looks of shame.

"However," Lord Death said, "I'm expecting you to get along, in order to represent me fairly, understand?"

Both of them straightened up.

"Yes father," Kid said.

"Right, dad!" Shinu agreed.

Shinu and Kid exchanged looks. Shinu smiled at him. Kid smiled uncertainly back.

"I'll expect you to help them in any way possible, Soul!" Lord Death said cheerfully to Soul in a by-the-way type of voice.

"Say what? Why me?!" Soul demanded.

"Because you're going to be one of my deathscythes one day, correct?"

"So are Tsubaki, Liz and Patty!"

"Oh yes, I'll expect you to pitch in as well you three; and I wouldn't want Maka and Black Star to feel left out." Lord Death smiled cheerfully through his childish-looking mask.

"Hold on a second, Lord Death…" Maka paused.

"Not cool…" Black Star muttered.

"Fool!" Excalibur jumped into the mix.

"Oh, Lord Excalibur, it's been quite a while, hasn't it?" Lord Death said to Excalibur.

"Indeed it has, Lord Death." Excalibur agreed, "Now, if we could have a few minutes?"

"Right, right," Lord Death looked to his other guests, "I'll see you later kids! Shinu, let me know when you get settled into Kid's house!"

"Right, dad" Shinu crossed arms with Yin and Yang, "Let's go, Shi-chan! I have a lot more luggage than you think."

"Luggage?" Kid sighed, "I'll bet it's uneven as well… I'm going to die…I'm going to die…"

Liz patted his back, looking as optimistic as possible, "You're not going to die, Kid. Come on, cheer up!"

"Room!" Patty cried, hands out in front of her like she was a car, and driving away from Lord Death.

"I guess we have to go now…" said Maka uncertainly.

Soul sighed, "Let's go…" he said.

"Yeah…" Maka sighed too.

"Black Star," Tsubaki looked to her meister. Black Star smirked,

"Yeah, I know, Tsubaki," Black Star answered, "Kid's an idiot. Let's go, before Excalibur starts talking."

"Fool!" Excalibur pointed at Black Star with his cane.

"Excalibur," Lord Death said as the children left, "I assume you came here because of Doman?"

Excalibur sat down where Black Star had been sitting, saYin nothing.

Lord Death looked solemn.

"Spirit!" he called over to Maka's father who looked up immediately.

"Yes Lord Death?"

"Cancel any other appointments I have today," Death said, "My conversation with Excalibur will take a while.

"Yes sir," Spirit answered, then thinking, What appointments? He never has appointments!

"So Shinu," said Maka as the ten of them made their way out of Lord Death's mirror into the academy's hallway, "Do you need any help with any of your stuff?"

Shinu smiled friendly over to her, "It's okay, Maka. Since Yin and Yang are out today, I'll just have them lift all my bags for me."

She uses her weapons as slaves? Liz thought, I feel bad for them.

What a spoiled brat, Black Star thought.

"Oh lucky us, huh Yin?" Yang said, folding his hands above his head.

"Oh, shut up, Yang," Shinu said, "Sarcasm is so old."

She folded her arms, and looked annoyedly out the window.

Oh damn it, Yang thought.

"We're sorry, Shinu, he didn't mean it!" Yin said immediately.

Kiss ass, Yang thought.

"Please don't be upset!" Yin begged her.

Shinu sighed, "Fine," she said, "Shi-chan, my things are in a trailer just outside of Death City."

"Why didn't you bring them with you?" Kid asked.

"Because the trailer belongs to mom," Shinu said, with a shrug.

Kid stiffened.

"Quit talking about mother so casually Shinu."

"Why?" Shinu said, "It's not like she's some sort of taboo, Shi-chan."

"Just don't!" Kid said, angrily.

Shinu stared at him for a long while, eyebrows scrunched. Then she crossed her arms,

"Boys…" she sighed.

I'm not sure I like this girl all that much, Maka thought.

"So, what exactly can you do around here?" Shinu asked.

"All kinds of things," said Kid patiently, "For one thing, you can go to the hair salon…"

"I like my hair." Shinu said.

"Or go to the arcade…" Kid continued.

"Games are for reality haters." Shinu said.

"Or go to the mall…"

"Lame."

"Or go to the pet store."

"Who has time for pets when you have Yin and Yang as weapons?"

"Shinu!" Kid was getting annoyed, "Show some respect for others! You are seeming like a spoiled brat!"

Like he's one to talk, Liz thought.

Shinu looked at everyone, who were all looking at her with their uncertain-skeptical expressions,

"Hmmm…." she ignored them, and then turned in the direction of Gallows Manor,

"I'll see you at the house, Shi-chan!" she called, "Bring my stuff over, will you Yin and Yang?"

"What a brat," Liz commented as Shinu walked away.

"I completely agree," Kid said.

Shinu got to the mansion, and calmly went inside. She looked around for a second.

Left.

Nobody.

Right.

Nobody.

Forward.

Nothing.

She turned behind her where the door was, and peeked through the hole in the door.

No one was on the street.

YES! Shinu leaped into the air, and started screaming with excitement.

"YES! After all this time…" she paused a second. She reached into her shirt and pulled out a locket. She clicked it open. A picture of Lord Death and her mother were on one side, and on the other side, a picture of she and her brother, crossing arms and grinning.

Shinu hugged it closely to her.

Finally, she thought, A way to get my brother back.

Kid, Liz, Patty, Yin, and Yang all headed toward the entrance to Death City. Kid had told Maka and Black Star they didn't have to help load his sister's things. They'd protested of course, but he had insisted. He didn't enjoy having the spotlight for such a period of time.

He'd told Liz and Patty they could go home as well, but they felt so bad for him, so they stayed anyway.

Damn, Kid thought as he unloaded a dark purple lamp out of the trailer, she still has this old thing? He examined it a moment. He'd given Shinu this lamp. It had a lovely crescent pattern going across it, but it was worn away by now. In fact, there was a little chip on the right side…

Kid started twitching.

Damn…it… Kid gritted his teeth.

"Oh my gosh," Liz squealed unnecessarily, "All these creepy masks and stuff are really scary. How can you sister live with this stuff staring at her every night Kid?"

"Look what I found!" Patty said, pulling up a box labeled "butterflies"

"Oh, I remember that!" Kid said nostalgically, snapping his eyes from the lamp, "It was the only symmetrical creature I'd let her have in our room, back when we shared it."

Patty pulled out a silver butterfly ornament, and dangled it, "Cute!" she exclaimed.

"Wait a second," Liz said, "You used to share a bedroom?"

"Well," Kid blushed, "That's what you get when your mother is a very "close-bonding" type of woman."

"If that's the case, then why doesn't she live here with you and your dad?" Liz asked.

Kid looked away, "It's complicated," he said. He picked up the asymmetrical lamp, and walked outside.

Liz blinked. She sighed.

He'll tell us when he's ready I guess, she thought.

"Hey sis," Patty said.

"What is it, Patty?" Liz asked.

"Those boys," Patty pointed, "They walk funny, don't they?"

Liz looked, and saw that Yin and Yang were both struggling with taking Shinu's luggage outside. They were lifting the boxes with ease, they seemed to be used to it, but they were walking slowly, and Yin would occasionally stumble, and spill some of Shinu's things onto the floor.

"I guess you're right," Liz said, "If what I'm guessing is true, than they don't get to return to human form as much and as regular as we do."

Patty nodded, totally expressionless.

"I feel like I just got off a boat!" Yang complained.

Yin shook violently as he nearly dropped and broke a box of some of Shinu's jewelry.

Yang grabbed his twin by the arms, "How much jewelry does one spoiled brat need?"

Kid sighed as he came back inside the trailer, "My sister can be so heartless sometimes," he said. He turned to Yin and Yang, "The two of you should just head over to the manor. Try to stretch your legs a bit while my sister's allowing. I'll take care of all this. Liz, Patty, you go too."

Liz, Patty, Yin, and Yang all looked at him.

"Well, if anyone can move all this stuff," Liz said, "It would be you."

Kid smiled at her. Liz smiled back,

"Alright Kid," Liz said, "We'll leave this pile of junk to you. Patty, let's help these boys out."

"Right!" Patty agreed.

"But if we don't help, Miss Shinu…" Yin started.

"Don't worry your little head about Kid's sister," Liz said, "It doesn't really matter who gets the stuff as long as it arrives at the manor safely?"

"But…" Yin protested, but Patty was already shoving him out.

"Don't worry so much!" she said supportively to them.

"Bye Kid!" Liz called, "Good luck with moving everything!"

When Liz and Patty were gone, Kid heaved a deep sigh, and turned to all the boxes. Finally! Now he needed to just find a way to organizedly get all the boxes to Gallows Manor. Now, just to start…

Maka and Soul played cards on the coffee table of their house. There wasn't really anything better to do. Maka was too irritated to train properly, and Soul really wasn't in the mood either. Neither really talked all that much, just placing their cards down on the table, and calling out if they got a pair. Finally, after about a lifetime of tension, Blair ran into the room,

"Look what I found!" she sang.

Maka and Soul looked up boredly.

"I found a picture of Soul as a baby!" she announced victoriously. She held out a dark grey book with a picture of a poorly-drawn red bird on the front. Blair flipped it open, and Maka immediately came face-to-face with a picture of a baby butt,

"WAAAAAH!" Maka squealed immediately, "What the heck, Blair?!"

"That's not me, you psycho!" Soul yelled.

Blair looked confused, "It's not? But the butt is so cute!"

Maka studied the picture, and started blushing,

"Blair," Maka said weakly, "Where'd you find that?"

"Buried in all your baby pictures," said Blair stupidly, "Why?"

Maka snapped,

"STAY OUTTA MY STUFF YOU IDIOT CAT!"

Five minutes later, Maka was shut in her room with her pillow over her head, totally embarrassed. Blair was still sitting cluelessly in the living room. Soul was rubbing his head delicately in his room, for Maka had hit him with a book again,

"Damn it, Maka…" Soul said, "What'd I do?"

"Oh!" Blair realized, "So that was Maka's butt! But… it was so cute… I guess she must've changed since she was little…"

"I'll kill her…" Maka muttered through her furious gritted teeth.

Black Star and Tsubaki were right back to training as soon as they got home. They worked pretty hard, but all that Soul Resonance attempting they were doing was just putting a strain on both Black Star and Tsubaki's bodies.

"Come on Tsubaki," Black Star said, "We're gonna make it this time. I know we are!"

Tsubaki nodded in weapon form, "Right!" she said.

"Let's get serious!" Black Star decided.

"Right!" Tsubaki cried.

"Alright!" Black Star cried loudly.

"SOUL RESONANCE!" they yelled.

Black waves are pure energy vaporated around them, making a pure swirl.

"Alright!" Black Star said, "Time for the second round!"

"SOUL RESONANCE!" the two of them cried again.

Once again, Masamune turned white and silver, but this time it glowed with a heavenly vigor.

"Alright!" Black Star swung Masamune's blade above his head, "Let's chop that mocking basterd!"

"Let's go!" Tsubaki yelled.

"Ya…." Black Star gathered up all his energy as he ran at the tree with the Grim Reaper taped to it, as it had been so many vigorous nights of training. Then,

"HOOO!"

"Come on Black Star!" Tsubaki cried, "You can do it!"

He was getting close, close, closer. He was yards. Feet. Inches. All of the power was released out behind him, and then, as he raised the blade to finish the reaper off.

Masamune's blade dimmed, snapped out of Black Star's hand, and scattered to the ground.

Without all the power behind him anchoring him, Black Star fell face first into the grass,

"Ouch!" Black Star yelled. He pushed himself shakily to his feet.

"Damn it," he said, "I really thought we had it that time. Looks like we're not quite ready Tsubaki. Let's try it again."

No response.

"Tsubaki?" Black Star turned, and saw Tsubaki was still laYin blankly on the ground, unmoving.

"Tsubaki!" Black Star yelled in alarm.

"TSUBAKI!"