"It's him! I'm sure of it!" Kid shouted loudly, Maka standing by his side.

"I have complete trust in him, Kiddo," Shinigami-sama raised his voice dangerously.

"Father, how can you be so sure? He's always sneaking around! I'm sure that he's the one who's helping the darkness!"

"Kiddo, I have given you my answer." There was an edge to Shinigami-sama's voice.

"But… Maka is in danger! You cannot deny that fact." Kid shot back. Maka stared helplessly.

Maka lay sleeping soundlessly in her bed, alone. Even though Kid had promised never to leave her again, it was nearly impossible to do it every second of the day and since she had complained about her lack of privacy. So, he used special enchantments that Maka had never seen nor heard of before to seal the windows. There were invisible barriers there so she could still look outside when she wanted, but wouldn't let her pass. Apparently it was casted for her especially since the breeze could still be felt, and things that weren't a part of Maka could be thrown out of the window.

The sun crept over the cloud cover, letting the sunlight into the room. As it rested on Maka's face, she grumbled about how the sun shouldn't be allowed to wake people up so early. She rolled over and let sleep take over once again without a second thought.

"Maka…Yes…It's ALL your fault!" Maka felt a hard slap. She wanted to retaliate, to hit this man back, but her arms and legs were bound.

Maka could feel thin fingers tracing her bare skin. "You're so soft…" she could feel hatred pulse through her body. "Interesting…Now, girl," the man pulled her hair, hard.

"I'm going to have some fun…" Maka's vision was blurred; she couldn't make out who it was. Suddenly, it felt as if there was fire running through her veins; it burned her flesh. She was screaming, but no one came to save her.

The man laughed manically at her shrieks. Her body felt so raw, the blood had been exhausted, but it still hurt, and he continued to laugh. She heard the whizzing of machines, and it felt as if it were all over…

"MAKA! It's okay, it's just a dream!" Kid shouted to be heard over the loud yells. He pressed two fingers over the unconscious, crying girl's forehead. The physical pain Maka had felt disappeared but even though it was gone she could still feel it. It was like torture inside her head.

Maka couldn't stop herself at all. The pain was unbearable, where had it come from? "It's alright…Just another nightmare…" Kid soothed gently as he brushed the tears away with his sleeve. He always knew how to make her feel better even in the worst times.

"Thank you, Kid…" Maka sniffed. "It's no problem…Do you feel better now?" Kid watched her concernedly. "Yes…It was just a bad dream…Just a bad dream…" Maka mumbled the last part, trying to tell herself that it was true.

"We're going to see my Father today," Kid blurted out suddenly. Maka looked at him questioningly, "Why?" "Even though I'm sure he already knows; you need to tell him what happened with the Darkness. You can't forget that your friend was a student at Father's school."

Maka's emotions seemed to be on a rollercoaster all the time. At some points she was happy, usually with Kid, and others, she was frightened, with the Darkness, and even more, she got depressed thinking about her old friends that were no longer with her. She usually experienced these every day which was extremely tiring.

"Oh…" Maka averted her eyes away from Kid's, knowing that they were getting a bit wet. "Oh, I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…Maka…" Kid squeezed her hand. Maka blinked a few times, getting rid of the unshed tears. "It's fine…You didn't do it on purpose…" She gave him a shaky smile.

Deciding it would be better to steer the subject away from Black*Star, Kid informed, "We'll be leaving within the hour…Is that okay?" "Er…Yeah, I just have to change." She looked expectantly at Kid who simply nodded. She waited a second, figuring that he was just kidding, then said slowly, "I'm going to change now, so…" She hoped he understood what she meant.

He didn't. Kid was determined to stay until he was forced to leave. He did want to see her change… While he was lost in his thoughts, Maka called, "I'll be back in a few minutes." Kid turned around just to see her close the door. Kid sighed as he mumbled, "Just like Maka…She never did change clothes in front of me…Even if I asked…"

As Kid and Maka arrived at the school, they realized that it was still in session. A bit hesitantly, Maka followed Kid through the doors. Spirit waddled out, obviously drunk. He looked as if he were going to say something spiteful, but resolved against it. They walked past each other, ignoring the other party entirely. The halls were deserted and Maka decided that the classes had just started. She was wrong.

Just as the pair were about to the Chairman's Office, a bell Maka immediately recognized rang out. She instinctively looked up at where she knew it was and panic struck as she saw the doors around them start to open. What would her other friends think? What would they say?

As the kids from Maka's class spilled out of their room, the ones in the front stopped dead in their tracks; the others behind them complained at first about the hold-up until they saw what the first ones were gawking at. "Is that…Maka Albarn?"

A few of them made quick strides to where Maka was while others pretended not to notice her, despite their constant staring. "Maka! It's nice to see you!" A friend came up and greeted her, "It's been so long…Are you doing okay? I'll talk to you soon because I can't be late again, my parents would kill me if I was…" As the student started continuing to their next lesson after a quick goodbye, one girl walked up confidently, "Where have you been? We heard that your mom died or something, and that you were taking days off. But remember how Soul told us about how he found you? So we knew that was a big lie, obviously. Black*Star let it slip that you were kidnapped and…" The chatterbox girl just then noticed Kid. "Who is this?"

Kid stared at her, "Excuse me, but Maka and I have business to take care of with my Father over there." The girl visibly looked behind herself and then stared in awe at Kid. "You're the Chairman's son? I'm sorry about being rude earlier…I was just worried about Maka…Oh, I heard that you were cute and all, but this is hard to believe!"

The talkative student grabbed Kid's shoulders and leaned to his ear, whispering just loud enough for Maka to hear. "If you wait until after class, I can show you a good time…My parents are on vacation and the house is empty…" Maka didn't understand what she was talking about. How did having a good time have to do with her parents not being home?

Kid on the other hand, knew exactly what she was referring to. The girl was about to kiss him but Kid pushed her away. His yellow eyes glowed dangerously as he glared at her, "I'll have to pass. I can only have fun with Maka, and Maka only," he continued lower so that Maka couldn't hear him, "Don't get the wrong idea. If you tell anyone about this, you'll regret it. Remember, I'm the Chairman's son." Kid mimicked her.

"Come on," Kid pulled Maka past the dumbstruck girl. Once out of earshot from anyone, Maka wondered, "What did she mean? 'Showing you a good time'? Soul didn't tell me about anything like this…"

"It's a good thing he didn't…" Kid murmured absentmindedly. Before Maka asked again, Kid knocked on the door that read Chairman's Office. No one answered. Kid stated, "Father, we need to talk to you. Maka and Death the Kid, that is." A rustle of papers within the room was heard. "Come in."

Kid quickly rushed Maka in and shut the door so no one would be able to see inside of the room. It was dimly lit, just like the last time she was here. "I assume that you are alright, Maka-chan?" Maka nodded, then scolded herself for her stupidity and replied, "Yes sir." "I can see you from here, shinigami eyes can see through regular darkness…" He chuckled at her.

"I would've come to visit you, but I cannot leave this school…" Shinigami-sama continued on. "Oh, it's fine, sir. I'm alright now." Maka assured. She looked around the room idly; the brightest thing was Kid's yellow eyes, which were glinting. He caught her gaze quickly and stared back. "Maka, tell him what happened…"

Maka realized that she had been looking at Kid entirely too long, and blushed. "Yeah, right…" Maka explained yet again what had happened on the night of her most recent Darkness encounter. She came to the decision that she would somehow get rid of the Darkness in honor of Tsubaki and Black*Star during her recollection. She tried not to linger on his death, though.

Once she finished all that she could remember, Kid continued on to the part in which he found her. "Obviously the Darkness is not finished." Kid affirmed. Shinigami-sama 'hmm-ed' thoughtfully, "I think you are right, Kiddo."

"Which brings me to my next point…There's got to be someone helping the Darkness." Kid's statement went without response. Maka watched on; the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

"Father…It's Spirit." Shinigami-sama moved uncomfortably and Maka knew that he disagreed.

"It's him! I'm sure of it!" Kid shouted loudly, Maka standing by his side.

"I have complete trust in him, Kiddo," Shinigami-sama raised his voice dangerously.

"Father, how can you be so sure? He's always sneaking around! I'm sure that he's the one who's helping the darkness!"

"Kiddo, I have given you my answer." There was an edge to Shinigami-sama's voice.

"But… Maka is in danger! You cannot deny that fact." Kid shot back. Maka stared helplessly.

"Kid, Spirit is my most trusted friend, and you know, just as well as he does, that deep down he doesn't want to hurt her." Kid ground his teeth out of frustration. "Kiddo, you shouldn't hold it against him. It was a long time ago. You know how badly he feels about it…"

"He shouldn't have done it in the first place then!" Kid didn't want to believe what his Father was telling him. What are they talking about? What did Spirit do? Kid has always been a bit unhappy with him…

"If you don't believe in me Father, I'll be taking my leave." Kid grabbed Maka's hand and turned on his heel to go. "Kiddo…" Kid didn't slam the door, but closed it with the kind of force that made it obvious that he wasn't satisfied with their meeting.

Kid stormed down the hallway. His grip on Maka's hand was very tight; it felt as if it were strong enough to break the bones in her hand. He didn't seem to realize it, either. She tried to wiggle it out, but it was impossible. Just as the pain was getting agonizing, she uttered out, "Kid…!" He turned around to figure out what was wrong and immediately noticed the offense and let go.

"Damn it, I'm sorry…Maka, does it hurt? I usually don't lose my composure…" Green light streamed from each of Kid's fingers from his right hand in a steady flow. He tenderly touched her reddened hand where the flow of the stable emerald beam became out of control. Maka watched wide-eyed at the huge flash of green, unsure of what to do.

It took a minute, but Kid was able to stop it. "My magic…" Maka noticed that he looked a bit weak and supported him, an arm around his back. "Sorry…" Kid muttered. He was able to walk, but Maka wanted to be at least some help to him. "I used a lot of magic…I'll get better over time…Don't worry…Maka…"

Once out of the building, Maka realized something. "Kid…How are we going to get home?"

"Skateboard of course…"