With the killing of Shinigami's father, the battle had come to a quick ending. The kishin had scattered, but they were all destroyed before they could get very far. And now, in the aftermath of the battle, Kid started to relax again.

They had since gone back into the clubhouse. Asura was, of course, biting his fingernails, something Kid had come to know that he did often. Excalibur was bouncing around happily, not hurt in the slightest and acting like he might have a minor form of ADHD (Like he thought Black*Star did.). Eibon was resting against a box, and on top of that box was Shinigami. Shinigami had apparently let his hand trail over the side of the box, and it was steadily running through Eibon's hair, the later looking strangely content, with his eyes half-closed. Spirit (who had several scratches from the attacks by the reaper's scythe) had brought them both in, looking extremely worried. Shinigami was fine except for exhaustion from having connected his Sanzu lines (Kid had felt this connection occuring, and received further confirmation from Spirit on this). But what puzzled him the most was Eibon.

According to Spirit and only more confirmed by the slash across Eibon's chest, the boy had been run through by a scythe. He shouldn't be alive at that moment. But his heartbeat was strong when Spirit had picked him up, even though the sycthe admitted that the boy hadn't been breathing for at least a minute. What had caused him to stay alive? No matter, the greatest thing was his father's apparent happiness. Kid briefly wondered if his father had something to do with the fact that Eibon lived, but promptly put that thought away. His father couldn't do stuff like that – could he?

Patty started to make a noise, but Liz promptly quieted her, and Kid saw why. Eibon had been so relaxed that he had fallen asleep, Shinigami's hand still running through his hair. Shinigami had also fallen asleep, even though he'd been wide awake seconds before. To use a word his father used often, it was really… cute.


It was defiantely time to leave, Spirit thought as he looked over everyone. Eibon had been stitched up, although it would've been better if someone like Stein had done it. He also had a new, fresh shirt to replace the green one, which had been stained with blood. Shinigami was completely fine, and the scratch on Kid's arm from the kishin was completely healed over. No one else had been hurt badly, and they were completely ready to say good-bye.

But they were still here. And Spirit could hardly take it anymore. After resonating with him and getting a full understanding of what made him tick, Shinigami had found new ways to get on his nerves. Something that he loved to do. A lot.

And with Shinigami in lead, Exclibur was trying his hardest to annoy Spirit, too. Eibon, despite his restraining power over Shinigami, was choosing not to exercise this, merely watching the events that went on as Spirit tripped over Excalibur's white birch stick for the millionth time that day. "Hey, you're supposed to be an inventor when you grow up, can you make something to get us back to the future?" Spirit asked Eibon with considerable annoyance. Eibon only smirked slightly and shook his head. "Nope. The key words for you there are 'When I grow up'. I'm still a kid, so no can do."

Spirit tried his hardest not to think that Eibon said that just to annoy him. It was probably true, but he didn't want to think they were going to be stuck there. Which they almost practically were, now.

Death the Kid had started to nose around, looking at the books on the shelves. Spirit had looked at one, only to stop on seeing Dante's Inferno. What kind of kid would read Dante's Inferno? What WAS Dante's Inferno, anyway?

Kid apparently found what he was looking for, and pulled a medium sized book off the shelf. It looked like a photo album, similar to the one they had found in the basement of Gallows Mansion. But this seemed different. On the cover, it read, "Death the Kid."

"You think…?" Liz started, only to be interrupted by Kid. "Yes. I do. I think this is how we get back to the future."

The next thing Sprit knew, he and Kid had been pulled into a rib-breaking good-bye hug from Shinigami, who was slightly upset about them leaving. All the others said there good-byes, too, most of which weren't as intense as Shinigami's. And then Kid, sucking in his breath, opened the book.


Unlike the one they used to travel back through time, this one was filled with pictures. "It'll still work, right~?" Patty asked Kid, looking not much different then usual. "I don't think so, Patty," Kid sighed, about to close the book, when he saw something strange. The picturesin the book were things that were happening currently. The older version of Shinigami was at his mirror and at school everyone was studying – except him, Liz, and Patty. The empty seats caused some of the kids nearby to stare, for although Kid might come late to school on some days, he never missed it entirely. Unless it was a huge problem with something symmetrical. In other words, it truly was the present.

Kid reached out to touch one of the pictures, the one of his father, and he felt Spirit grasp his shoulder, not because the scythe felt it would be a course to the present, only as he wanted to get a better view. Liz had placed her hands on his shoulders from the back, and Patty hung on his left shoulder, bouncy as ever. And Kid touched the picture.

He had the familiar feeling of falling through blackness yet again, and he collapsed with a thud on a hard surface of some kind of floor. Liz fell on top of him next, then Patty, and finally Spirit, and Kid let out a loud "OUFF" that could probably be heard in outer space. "Oho, so you're back, eh?"

Kid looked up with all the ability that he had in him at the moment and saw the spiked point that his father used for feet. If it weren't for the weight of everyone on top of him, he'd have scrambled up to give his father a hug, but it was nearly impossible for him. Rather, he had to wait until Spirit and Liz got off him before he could begin to get up, Patty sliding easily off his back. "What do you mean, we're back?" he asked, wondering if his father knew about what had happened.

"Also, Spirit, I must tell you this." Shinigami looked at the scythe with a look of complete calmness. "I still like pancakes."

Spirit fainted.

AN: XD SO FUN TO WRITTTTEEEEEEE~ Also, sorry it keeps taking so long to upload chapters, I keep getting distracted.

A little note; this was began last year at around THANKSGIVING, if I remember correctly; my opinions have changed and my writing skills have improved. Because of that, I'm going to go over some of the previous chapters and make changes in them, hopefully get them SOMEWHAT better.

I'm also going to write a few BACKSTORIES, hopefully this will get you to see the characters better, and understand why Eibon, Shinigami, and Asura live together under one roof, and why Shinigami hates his father in the first place and how that all happened, so...