Okay, chapter four! :D sorry if it took a bit to get this up. Thanks to those who have commented so far.


Mari said goodbye to Jaden before leaving their apartment. She figured that she would lay low against Death the Kid for a couple days before calling him out again. If she was anything, she was fair, and it wouldn't have been fair to him to attack him the next day after how he had reacted. She wanted him fighting at his best next time. As she left the complex, she noticed Maka by a motorcycle with a guy with white hair.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked, walking over to her. Maka started and looked over at her.

"Oh Mari, you're here! Soul and I live here," she said. Now she knew who the white top was.

"Oh, you too huh? That's a surprise. I just moved into an apartment here the other day," Mari told her.

"Oh that's great," Maka said with a bright smile. The one called Soul didn't seemed so thrilled. He still had his back to her, and was muttering something under his breath.

"You got a problem with me White Top?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously. He turned and seemed to be watching her carefully as well, scowling at her. "I'm guessing Maka told you about what we had talked about."

"Yea, sorry," Maka apologized. "Soul is my partner, I don't usually keep things from him."

"Oh, it's alright. I respect that in a meister. You don't see that to often between people," Mari said. She refocused on Soul. "So, I'm guessing you don't believe me, do you?"

"It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that I'd rather not take sides until I know the full story," he responded.

"Understandable," she said simply.

"Mari, you aren't going to attack Kid again, are you?" Maka asked.

"Not today," Mari said shortly. She started past them, walking along briskly. After a moment or two, an engine roared to life behind her and they rolled over to her, matching her speed.

"You want a ride?" Soul asked. Mari looked over the motorcycle once and then nodded, getting on right behind Maka. There was just enough room for all three of them. Sooner than Mari had expected, they were already parked at he bottom of the stairs leading to the school. She got off with Maka and looked up at the school. It was completely symmetrical and perfect. She sneered at it, the sight of it sickening to her eyes.

"So, you showed your face after all."

Mari turned and glared down Death the Kid, who was just now approaching the school. He was also staring at her intently, his shoulders stiff like he was ready for her to attack. "Calm down, I'm not here to fight today," she said to him. He didn't relax, and he looked away like the sight of her sickened him. "Whatever, be that way."

She started up the stairs next to Maka and Soul, and saw Kid catch up to her out of the corner of her eye. "Would you stay away from me?" she snapped.

"No, whether you like it or not, I'm supposed to escort you around the school for a couple days," he said, glaring daggers at her. She glared back with just as much irritation.

"Well at least keep your distance. I don't want your hideous stench to rub off on me," she sneered. Then she looked back ahead of her. She saw him disappear from her line of sight and was slightly satisfied that he at least respected her space.

"I should let you know that my father wishes to speak with you," he suddenly blurted once they reached the top. Mari clenched her fists.

"Like I give a damn about what your father wants," she sneered. She noticed Maka and Soul look at her in shock.

"I suggest you go see him," Kid said to her.

"Well no thanks, I can barely stand being near you. Like I want to go see one of your relatives," she snapped. Soul and Maka paused, but she kept going, going at a brisk trot so she could be alone quicker. She heard foot steps behind her and turned to see Kid still following her. "Would you leave me alone already?"

"You need to meet with my father," he said to her.

"I'm not going to go meet your god damned father, alright? Get it through your thick, black and white haired skull!"

Kid paused, his eye going wide in realization. Then they turned terrified. He suddenly went to the ground on hands and knees, pounding on it like he was having a tantrum. "You're right! I'm asymmetrical scum! Garbage! Why do I continue to live?"

She looked at him in total astonishment. "Really? What, is he OCD or something?" she asked herself aloud.

"Not again," a girl said, walking over to him. She was followed by a smaller girl. They were both wearing similar outfits. She remembered them as Kid's weapon partners. "Did you mention his hair to him?" she asked.

"Yes, so what?" Mari asked.

"Kid is asymmetrical," the smaller girl chanted over and over in a sing-song voice.

"I'm trash! Put me out of my misery! Let me die," Kid cried.

"No Kid, you're not trash, don't say that about yourself. Patty you are not helping," she hissed at the chanting girl. Mari took the opportunity to walk away quickly, but she didn't get far before Kid noticed.

"Hey, where do you think you're going," he yelled. Mari heard the older girl mutter something about that snapping him out of it. Mari groaned.

"Away from you," she called back, walking faster.

"Oh no you don't," Kid yelled, running after her.

()

"These two aren't giving up are they?" Liz complained, stopping and catching her breath. Kid and the new girl disappeared around a corner.

"They sure run fast down, don't they sis?" Patty said, catching her breath as well. "It's not even funny how much they have in common considering strength and speed." Liz silently agreed with her. She stood up straight and leaned against the wall.

"No use chasing them, let's just let them run each other down and then go find them," she said.

"Yea, good idea," Patty agreed, sounding a little thankful about the idea. She leaned against the wall next to her sister, after a bit using her fingers to push herself off against the wall just to fall back against it out of pure boredom. "Hey big sis, is it just me, or does that girl seem familiar?"

"Don't be ridiculous Patty. We've never met her before," Liz said to her.

"You sure? I dunno, there's something about her voice that seems familiar," Patty mused, poking her cheek in thought.

"Go away, leave me alone!" Liz and Patty turned to the voice coming up the hall. As if on cue, the girl Kid was in hot pursuit of came running past them. Kid was close behind her, and they soon disappeared again. Liz focused on the girls word, suddenly also hearing something familiar in them.

"Go away leave us alone!"

"What's going on here?"

"Sis, let's get 'em!"

"Wait, isn't she-," both girl started at the same time.

()

Kid came to a stop first, utterly exhausted from keeping up with Mari. He had taken notice that Liz and Patty had stopped a long time ago. He watched as she ran up the hall to the massive door leading to the Death Room and smiled. Cornered. Now it's either be trapped here with me or go in and speak with Father. I can probably already guess which one she will choose.

Indeed Mari did do as he expected. She cast the door a sneer, and then glared back at him before going inside and leaving him alone in the hall.

"So you finally cornered her," Liz said from behind him. He stood up straight and nodded back to her.

"Let's head to class now, shall we? I'm sure Professor Stein will understand why we are late," he said to them. Liz sighed and Patty laughed. He smirked and walked ahead, knowing they were following him close behind.

()

"Ah Mari, so you finally decided to come like I asked," Lord Death said to her. She glared to the side in a pouting fashion.

"I wouldn't be here if that bastard would have left me alone," she said.

"Anyway, let's get down to business to why I had summoned you here," Lord Death said. Mari looked up at him, already knowing what he was going to talk to her about.

"It's about my confrontation with Death the Kid yesterday," she said as a statement more than a question. Lord Death nodded anyway.

"I am usually fine with students fight for training or for fun at the academy as long as a teacher is proctoring them, but what you did was far beyond that," Lord Death began. "I care deeply for my students safety. I know kids will be kids, and some may leave a bruise or two every so often, but I will not allow deadly combat here. I no longer want what happened yesterday to happen again at the academy. Do as you like off campus, but nothing like that again. Someone could get hurt."

"Couldn't someone just as easily get hurt inside Death City?" Mari asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"True, that is an excellent point you just made. Very well, if you two do confront each other, take it on the outskirts of Death City or at least somewhere pleasantly deserted," Lord Death concluded. Mari wasn't all to thrilled about this. She saw Death the Kid at school almost every day, and didn't even know where he lived in Death City. How would she find a way to confront him outside of school hours? Maybe that is Death's plan in the first place.

"Fine, I'll agree to your orders this time, but I'd like to ask something of you," Mari requested. Lord Death seemed to perk up at this, seeing as she was rarely polite enough to ask anything from him. "I don't want Death the Kid tailing me like a little duckling around the school anymore." Lord Death chuckled at this in amusement to her reference of Death the Kid.

"Alright, alright. I'll tell him not to follow you around anymore. I'm sure after your little run around the academy that you should know your way around the general area by now," Lord Death told her, still laughing to himself. Mari blushed with mixed anger and embarrassment, but said nothing and turned to leave. "Mari, wait." She paused and looked back to him. "I hope you will make good friends here. Everyone here is a good person, and would be excellent people to have on your side."

Mari rolled here eyes at him and walked out without another word.

()

Something is bothering Maka and Soul.

Maka and Soul were chatting with Mari, who had seated herself next to them after being introduced to the class. Kid had noticed a spark of a smile coming from Mari every once in a while, and concluded that she should smile more. Of course, that wasn't what he really was worried about at the moment.

Before Mari had even come into the class room, Kid had tried to talk to Maka and Soul, seeing as Mari had driven up with them to school. She must have lived close by, or they had already become friends of some sort, and wanted to get information on the girl. She was positively puzzling, not to mention a pain to be around, but something had him completely hooked on learning what it was her problem was with her.

Her eyes. They are gold, not green. She's hiding something about herself. I need to know what.

Kid figured, seeing as the scythe meister and weapon were already close to Mari, they would be his best bet on learning something about her. Only problem was, when he had confronted them, they both exchanged glances, and some kind of agreement went between them. Maka hadn't said a word and went back to reading her book. Soul had told him he didn't know anything about the girl, then stopped talking to him and looked over at Maka's book like he was interested in what she was reading.

It puzzled him. These two people that he considered close friends were keeping something hidden from him, and he was positive it had something to do with Mari's hatred towards him.

()

Classes were over for the day. Lord Death had requested Kid to come to the Death Room. Liz and Patty told Kid they were going to go back to Gallows Manor without him, which he agreed to and left them. After Kid had disappeared from their line of sight, Liz and Patty both nodded in agreement and went out to wait for the new girl. To their surprise, she was already at the bottom of the stairs with Maka and Soul, all three getting ready to leave on Soul's motorcycle.

Liz and Patty sprinted down the stairs. "Hey you guys, wait," Liz yelled. Soul stopped the bike almost as soon as he had got it moving. They ran over and held onto the bike like it was going to drive off on it's own.

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?" Maka asked them, looking worried.

"We need to talk to new girl here," Liz said after a second of catching her breath. The new girl shot them a suspicious look, but got off the motorcycle.

"I'll catch you guys later."

"Okay Mari, see you later," Maka said to her. Soul revved the engine and took off.

"So, what does Death the Kid's weapons want with me?" she asked, a hint of displeasure in her voice.

"We have some questions, and it starts with who you are, because you're obvious hiding something," Liz told her.

"Sis, you're even confusing me," Patty said. Liz sighed heavily. "Mari, was it? Did you used to live out in the streets with a weapon by the name of Jaden?"

()

"So you figured me out that quickly," Mari sighed. "I shouldn't be so surprised. I knew you two would have figured it out quickly after I realized you were the notorious Thompson Sisters. How did a trouble making pair like you end up with Death the Kid?"

"Long story short, we needed a place to crash, he came along, and he kinda grew on us," Liz said, scratching the back of her head and sending her a nervous grin. Mari knew that Liz knew she wouldn't like this information, but she let it go for old times sake. Mari had looked up to Liz and Patty while she had been on the streets. They had taken care of her and Jaden for a long time. "So, what's with the image change?" Liz asked.

"And why are you hiding the fact that you're a reaper?" Patty added.

"It's... a long story," Mari said. "I don't even want to be a reaper. I hate that I'm categorized with those idiots." By"those idiots" she was clearly talking about her father and Death the Kid. Luckily for her, she had never told the Thompson Sisters that she was the child of Lord Death, not that that mattered.

"I can see what you mean," Liz said, looking like she was reliving a disturbing memory. Patty just giggled next to her.

"So how's Jaden? Has he gotten any better with other people?" Patty asked. Mari looked at the ground. Oh, that's right. They probably don't know about Jaden because of their stupid excuse for a meister.

And so, she explained what happened to Jaden. She was kind enough to leave out the part that Kid was the one who cursed Jaden in the first place, seeing as mistrust in the weapon-miester bond would put Kid off him game, which is exactly what Mari didn't want.

"Wow, that's really deep," Liz said. They had been walking down the road for a while and Mari noticed that they ended up at the abandoned park with the willow tree. "And you have no clue who did it?"

"Well I do, but I don't want to have you two concerned about it. I'm not the same little girl you saved from thugs all those years ago. I can take care of myself as long as I've got Jaden with me."

"You two are really close even after all these years," Liz chuckled. "Well, we better get back to Gallows Manor, or Kid will get there and see we aren't back yet."

Mari was jolted out of the thought she was in at the name. "Wait, why would you go there?" she asked.

"We live there of course. Kid is a grim reaper after all," Liz said, giving her a strange look like the answer had been obvious. Mari scowled. Why would he be living where I used to live. Looks like I have a few questions to ask the old man later.

"Anyway, we'll catch you later. And don't worry, we won't tell Kid you're a reaper," Liz said.

"Yea, thanks. See you two tomorrow," Mari called after them.