There was a knock on Black Star and Tsubaki's door as they were starting to eat dinner. "Who could that be?" Tsubaki asked. She got up and started heading towards the door.

"Probably an adoring fan that wants my autograph! Or maybe Soul's returning the record I let him borrow," Black Star suggested.

Tsubaki smiled at her meister then opened the door. "Oh, Kid. What brings you here?"

Kid opened his mouth to say sounding, but Patty stepped in front of him before he did. "We need Black Star to use his soul wavelength on Mr. Shimmers!" She said happily. She lifted the flailing fish in her fist so that it was in front of Tsubaki's face. Both Kid and Liz took a step away from Patty and the fish.

"Umm...W-why?" Tsubaki asked. She was at a loss for words.

"It's immortal, but it needs to be gruesomely murdered," Kid said.

Tsubaki looked confused. "A fish can become a kishin?"

"Who cares, I hear you need the mighty help of Black Star!" Black Star interjected. "I guess I really am surpassing a god."

"Don't be too proud of yourself. Right now a fish is on the list of things that are surpassing this 'god'," Liz said putting air quotes around god.

"Hey, you don't like that vile creature either!" Kid complained.

"I don't like it because it's slimy, gross, and doesn't blink. That's totally different from why you don't like it," Liz said back.

"Asymmetry is a completely valid reason to despise something."

"Sure it is."

"Yeah, yeah, enough chit-chat. I'll take care of this fish for you Kid, no problem. I'll even let you get the soul," Black Star said and gave a thumbs up to his friend.

Kid smiled. "Thank you. And if it's all the same, can I stay out here while you kill it? I'd like to stay as far away from it as possible."

"Me too," Liz added.

"Sure, but you'll be missing a great show," Black Star said.

"No doubt," Kid said. He didn't have much faith in Black Star, but it was worth a try.

"I'll watch!" Patty said happily and walked into the assassin's apartment.

Tsubaki closed the door and joined Liz and Kid in the hall. "I hope you don't mind me joining you," She said sweetly.

"Not at all," Kid said.

"Anything's better company than that stupid fish," Liz added.

"Speaking of which, where did you get the fish anyway?" Tsubaki asked.

"Today is my birthday, so that's the present that Father gave me. It's the worst thing on this planet and deserves to be obliterated, but it's immoral," Kid explained.

"We tried everything to kill it, but as you saw, it's not dead, so we thought we'd give Black Star's soul wavelength a try on it," Liz continued.

Tsubaki was waiting for them to be finished talking before she said something, but she was completely shocked. "Today's your birthday!?"

"Yeah, but it's not a big deal. I've actually never celebrated it until today, and I never want to celebrate it again."

"I'm sorry your birthday isn't going very well," Tsubaki said.

"Hey, don't feel sorry. It's not your fault," Liz said.

Suddenly, they heard Black Star yelling at the top of his lungs "What the hell's wrong with you!? JUST DIE ALREADY!"

Kid and Liz sighed.

"Sounds like it didn't work," Kid said.

"Yep," Liz unenthusiastically agreed.

Tsubaki couldn't help but feel really bad. It was Kid's birthday, and he was pretty miserable. "Can me and Black Star keep the fish for a while? Knowing Black Star, he won't give up on killing it. You can just leave it with us and you can enjoy your birthday," she said with a big smile.

Kid smiled. "Well, if it really is no trouble…"

"Thank you Tsubaki sooo much! You don't know how long this day has been!" Liz said, obviously relieved.

"It's really no problem. Happy Birthday Kid," Tsubaki said, "And feel free to come to us if you ever need anything." She went back into her apartment, and Patty came out.

"Black Star isn't going to kill Mr. Shimmers," She said, "But it was a pretty show." The three of them started walking out of the building. After a while, Patty asked "Do you think Lord Death will get all depressed if he knows that Mr. Shimmers is staying with Black Star instead of us? You know, because of the tracking device."

"I hope not," Kid mumbled.

"No way, we can just say that we excited showed our friends and Black Star took a liking to it. Then we say something sappy, like 'it resembles love so we couldn't just refuse to give it to a friend' and he'll eat it right up," Liz said.

Kid sighed. "I don't like lying to my Father like this," he said under his breath.

"Then tell him you hate the fish," Liz said.

"No, that's infinitely worse!"

Liz shook her head. "You're impossible, you know that?"

"Well, at least we got rid of Mr. Shimmers for the night," Patty said. Kid and Liz nodded in agreement.

It was about eleven at night, the moon shone high in the sky and was laughing quietly. All three of Gallows Mansion's residents were sound asleep until something woke Kid up. He sat up in his bed, not knowing why he'd woken up, but his soul perception was telling him something was wrong. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. Kid turned his head and stared at it. On the hight stand to the right of his bed was none other than Mr. Shimmers swimming happily in a bowl, a different bowl from before, and not with as much of a scratch on him. Not only that, but he was on the right side of Kid's bed, ruining the symmetry of his whole room.

A note was placed in front of the bowl, which Kid picked up and read.

'Hey Kiddo,' it said in Lord Death's handwriting, 'I don't know why you left your lovely present at your friend's house, but I decided to return it to you. I hope you're okay. First, you accidentally flush it, then you accidentally leave it at your friends. You're probably just a little out of it because of how excited you are about your gift. I know you would love it, I really did everything in my power to make it the best gift in the world. I love you Kiddo! Happy birthday! -Death'

Tears formed in Kid's eyes as he read. "Why do I have to be such an ungrateful child. I don't deserve a father like him. I deserve to shrivelin a hole and die unloved. I'm garbage."

'I deserve to shrivel in a hole and die unloved. I'm garbage.' Kid's voice said as it came out of Lord Death's mirror. He was watching Kid through the reflective glass of the fishes new tank.

Lord Death sighed. "Oh Kiddo, I don't deserve a son like you. You're willing to put up with such pain just for my sake… Don't worry, once this whole thing is done, you won't be so stressed about symmetry anymore. You'll be better than your dad at running this whole place. Just a little while longer, Kiddo…"

A/N: Well that came out a lot faster than last time. I hope you liked this chapter. Review your thoughts. I'd love to read them.