I do not own Soul Eater;
Chapter 4
Kid led the girl through the twisting corridors that made up the lower levels of the DWMA with little difficulty. The only thing he was finding problematic was the speed in which he was forced to move at.
His father had been right about the crystals having an energy sapping effect, for the girl seemed to grow slower by the second. She trailed behind painfully and Kid found himself turning around one too many times just to make sure she was still within sighting distance. Every time he was faced with her, he could see her exhaustion all too clearly. By the time Kid had turned to check on her again, she had come to a complete standstill; her body was hunched over, her right arm keeping her balanced against the musty stone walls.
Kid could see the problem he would be faced with before it had even happened. If she could barely walk now, there was no way he would be able to stealthily extract her from the school and take her to the mansion. Someone was bound to see her, if not in the school itself then definitely on the walk back to the manor.
"This feeling…" the girl began, her excessive panting making it hard for Kid to understand what she was saying, "It's… inconvenient."
"You'll regain your strength soon enough." Kid said coolly, though he felt anything but. What would happen when she got her strength back? If her attitude was anything to go by, Kid couldn't be sure of how she'd react when she was finally rejuvenated. Yet another factor that could prove itself problematic for his father's ideal plan.
Kid stood awkwardly in the hallway as he waited for the hybrid to regain her breath. Once she had done so, she pulled herself away from the wall, hooked her arms around her chest and carried on. She didn't look to Kid as she walked towards him and instead moved her gaze downwards as she continued to follow him through the winding halls.
After a few more breaks and a further uncomfortable silence, the pair managed their way into the main halls of the DWMA. Fortunately, classes were still in session, leaving the corridors peacefully quiet. Kid gestured towards the direction of the main doors, waiting a moment for the hybrid to catch her breath again before they moved onwards.
"You won't make it to the mansion at this rate." Kid muttered, more to himself than anything. Still, the girl perked up when she heard him speak.
"Mansion?" She asked carefully before rolling her eyes, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. All Reapers must live like kings."
Kid didn't grace that statement with a response and instead continued with his previous thoughts, "If you're really struggling, I suppose we can use another means of transportation."
The girl didn't respond, it seemed she was using too much of her concentration to keep balanced than to actually listen to what Kid had to say.
When they made it into the sunlight, the hybrid shied away instinctively. She caught her forearm around her eyes and let out a jarring breath. Kid glanced in her direction before sighing, "I suppose you haven't seen that in a while."
The girl narrowed her eyes and removed her arm from her face. She balled her hands into firm fists and, with one fluid move, stepped out into the sun. It felt abrasive against her skin, but also warm. She hadn't felt the sun's rays in such a long time… it was nice.
As they descended the steps of the Academy, Kid glanced back to the hybrid, "How are you fairing?"
The girl gritted her teeth, pulling a hard grimace, "How do you think?" She growled, almost tripping from the effort.
Kid rolled his eyes, "Don't worry, we'll use another means of transport for the rest of the journey."
The hybrid lifted her head, curiosity shining through her eyes, "What do you mean?"
Kid didn't answer; instead, he lifted out his arm as he reached the bottom of the stairs. The moment he had done so, a flash of light emanated from his palm, spawning a sleek black skateboard into his hand.
The girl almost fell over in surprise, her eyes widened, "How'd you do that?" she gaped, then frowned, "What is that thing?"
"Beelzebub." Kid replied simply, toying with the skateboard in his hands, "This will be a much more efficient form of travel for your weakened state."
The girl quirked a brow, "I don't think I'm following…"
"Here, let me show you." Kid dropped the skateboard on the floor and stepped onto it. He lifted out an arm for the hybrid to take, looking away as he did so, "You're going to have to hold on to me."
The girl didn't move and for a while, Kid wondered whether she'd even accept his offer. Maybe he'd have to forcibly drag her through town; now that would be a sight worth seeing.
After a few minutes that spanned from the girl analysing the skateboard, staring at Kid and then finally gawking in the direction that they were supposed to be heading, she finally sighed, defeated.
"Fine." She muttered.
The hybrid stepped onto the skateboard behind Kid and, very gingerly, she wrapped her arms around his back. It didn't feel natural to Kid – having a creature that shouldn't exist in such close proximity. Still, he couldn't do anything about it. He'd made a promise to his father; he'd made a promise to himself. He had to do this.
The girl felt just as repulsed by the close-quarters she was keeping with the Reaper. She had made no promises to this child; he was quite simply the relative of the very creatures that had kept her imprisoned. Maybe she had been a burden to society, maybe she had been a monster, but all the same… she had never been deserving of the treatment the other Reapers had given her. Being close to this Reaper only brought back memories of the foul smelling cell that had been her prison for fourteen years. Growing up in the dark, being taught behind bars, fed through a hole in a door. She had been kept like an animal, nothing more. She gritted her teeth as her fingers locked around Kid's front. Everything about this situation was wrong to her. She needed an escape.
Just as this thought had crossed the girl's mind, a powerful breeze caught around her ankles. She let out a yelp of surprise before looking down towards the distressing sensation.
That was when she let out a terrified scream.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" She yelled, her grip tightening tenfold against Kid's chest.
Kid choked on his breath and glanced warily at the frightened hybrid clinging to his back, "Taking you home…"
"WE'RE FLYING!" She screamed into the fabric of his shirt, her eyes shut tight.
True enough, Beelzebub had started its ascent into the air, leaving the pair a fair few hundred feet from the grounds of the Academy.
"THIS THING HAD WHEELS, WHEELS DON'T FLY. HOW ARE WE FLYING?"
"WHAT IF I FALL?" She carried on screaming, "WHAT IF YOU FALL?"
Kid tried to remain tight lipped about the situation, but for some reason, he found it all rather amusing. The hybrid… a girl with both Reaper and witch DNA was practically sobbing into his shirt about… flying. Of all things.
"I won't fall." Kid suppressed the urge to laugh, "You won't either, just hold on tight."
The girl reinforced her hold further, causing the last of the air to be squeezed from Kid's lungs. Even in her weakened state, it seemed she still had the Death grip of any true Grim Reaper. That forced a slight chuckle from Kid's lips.
"What are you laughing at?" The girl sputtered into his back, "Shouldn't you be focusing on the…" she paled at the thought, "the sky?"
Kid smiled, "Sorry." He apologized half-heartedly, "I just wouldn't have expected that you'd be afraid of…"
"What?" the girl's voice darkened, "Flying? Well excuse me but I never really got out enough to try!"
Kid cleared his throat and lowered his voice, "You're right. Sorry."
The girl growled into his back, finding the strength to pull away slightly from his form. Now the fear was wearing off, the revulsion of this situation was setting in again. "Just get where we need to go. Quickly." She muttered, though even as she spoke, her eyes remained tightly shut.
Kid didn't think he'd ever seen a person more excited to see the ground before. As soon as the pair had touched down, the girl had practically thrown herself onto the pavement, silently praising all that was holy that she had survived the nightmare journey. Kid couldn't help but wonder if she had been afraid that he would purposely push her off. More than once during the journey he had made a sharp turn that had caused the hybrid to choke him with her hold; once he was even sure he'd heard her say, 'If I go down, so will you,' but the wind had been blowing so hard he couldn't have been certain.
Now that the white-haired hybrid had regained a little composure, she met the Gallows Manor with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"This is your home?" She asked in utter bewilderment, "It's so…" She tilted her head slightly, "Symmetrical."
Kid smiled, "I try my best."
The girl rolled her eyes, "That was one thing I learnt about Reapers, they're all perfectionists."
Kid frowned, "What's wrong with perfection?"
The girl smiled ever so slightly as she folded her arms behind her back, "When you're me, you learn to despise perfection."
There was a brief silence before Kid plucked up the courage to move ahead, "Come on then." He said as he passed the hybrid, still marvelling at the sheer size of the mansion.
"So do you live alone or does that masked guy live here too?" The girl asked off-handedly as they walked towards the mansion.
"He doesn't, but I don't live alone. I have two room-mates." Kid informed.
The girl quirked a brow, "Oh really, and what are their names?" She paused, then frowned, "Come to think of it, what's your name?"
Kid hesitated as they came up to the front doors. That was a point; he'd never shared his name with the girl and vice versa. Strange. "Death the Kid." Kid said, "You can call me Kid for convenience."
The girl grinned, "Sure."
"And yours?"
The girl turned on him, "You want to know my name?"
Kid began to unlock the door, but glanced to the hybrid nonetheless, "I have to call you something."
The girl frowned, her yellow orbs that always seemed to swirl paused along with her thoughtful expression. She stared into the distance for a moment before snapping back into reality, "I suppose… I think they used to call me Set."
"Set?" Kid asked as he opened the door.
Set smiled, revealing her sharpened teeth, "Yes…"
Kid gave 'Set' a brief tour of the mansion, outlining where each room was so she was less likely to get lost. The white-haired girl simply stared, mouth agape half the time. In the periods she wasn't shocked into silence, she was cracking small jokes about Reaper 'obsessions' with symmetry and perfection. Kid decided to ignore the latter and instead moved on to showing her the top floor of the mansion and, more specifically, the bedrooms.
"These rooms are off-limits." Kid said, gesturing towards two closed doors, in the otherwise perfectly symmetrical hallway.
Set glanced at them, noticing the floral name tag that had been written (in what looked like a child's scruffy hand) on the door closest to her. She frowned; the handwriting seemed to spell out Patti. She looked to the other door that had a much neater name written on it, Liz, and just below that was a 'Do not enter' sign written in menacing block capitals. Set cocked her head, interesting.
"Quite the lady's man." She said, glancing from one door to the other.
Kid turned to her and frowned. He followed her gaze to the signs on the doors before he realised what she meant. "They're not…" He branched off, "They're my weapons."
"Weapons?" Set asked, bemused.
Kid rolled his eyes, "I doubt you'd believe me if I told you. Not yet, at least."
Set smiled, "Smart little Reaper, aren't you?" She placed a finger to her lips as she passed the two doors, "So, if that one is Liz's and that one is Patti's, is the next one…" She reached her hand out towards the next door, but before she could make contact, Kid had grabbed her wrist. He smiled, but she could see a mixture of emotions behind his eyes, betraying his cool exterior. Some of those emotions were not pretty. She pursed her lips and moved her hand back to her side, "Off limits too, I take it?"
Kid quirked a brow, his golden eyes burning bright with humour, "Smart little hybrid, aren't you?" He mumbled, turning his back on her, "Come on, your room is up next."
They passed the room that Set believed to be Kid's before meeting with another. This door bore no significant markings to attach it to any one person. Kid glanced towards it, "This is the guest room closest to my bedroom. I think the closer you are, the easier you will be to handle."
Set nodded. Of course the Reaper didn't trust her; that was something she would have to earn. If she wanted to earn it that was…
At the moment, Set was weak. She felt both physically and mentally drained. The Reaper that stood before her was – at the moment at least – superior in every way. He hadn't forced her into anything, he'd made sure to give her choice after choice in every move that they made. Still, she knew he felt uncomfortable within her presence. That feeling was mutual, she knew. She couldn't trust him and he couldn't trust her, but at the very least, on some level, each other them were willing to try.
On that note, Kid opened the door to the guest room, revealing a rather spacious scope, complete with a double bed with thick dark sheets and three plump pillows, a large oak cabinet for clothing, a chest of drawers, two bedside tables with identical lamps and a large window with a rather fascinating view of the City outside. Set ran her gaze over the expanse twice before smiling. And of course, everything seemed to be perfectly symmetrical.
"There's an ensuite bathroom through that door over there." Kid said, pointing to the door near the back of the room that Set hadn't previously noticed.
"I'm sure you'd like to wash up." Kid eyed Set a little warily, "Unless-"
"No, I do." Set said quickly, though even she detected the tremble in her voice. She'd spent her entire life locked away in a dungeon, she had barely seen the light of day and suddenly… after who knows how many years she was being given a room, a room with a proper bed and a proper bathroom. A place to wash… a window to see the sun and the moon as they rose and fell in the sky. Despite herself, Set found tears rising from her eyes, threatening to spill over. She turned away from Kid for a moment, wiping at her face in panic.
Kid noticed her change in demeanour and glanced away, "I suppose you'll need some new clothes. Until we can get you some of your own, I'm sure Patti won't mind if you borrow a set of hers, maybe some pyjamas." Kid moved towards the door, "I'll fetch you something to wear, they may be a little large." And with that, the young raven-haired Reaper left the bedroom, leaving Set on her own in the most luxurious abode she could have ever imagined.
There was an old saying, pinch me I must be dreaming. Set wasn't familiar with it, but she still found herself questioning her reality. It was too good to be true. With the absence of the Reaper, Set found a twin trail of tears running down her face. She quickly wiped them away before sniffling a little into her hand. Was this her life now? Was this how everything changed?
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