A/N: Sorry for the wait. I've been either busy, having fights with writer's block, or just didn't have any motivation whatsoever. I'm hoping these few one-shots will be enough for now. I got this suggestion from SymmetryLocked and I thank them very much for giving me three suggestions to choose from. There are a few Patty stories I have planned, so I decided not to do Patty x Black Star (though, I like that pairing), and I didn't feel like writing a male Crona again or even regular Crona, so no Tsubaki x Crona… Sorry. ^^' But my sister likes Tsubaki x Kid and I thought it sounded interesting, so ta-da! Hope you like it, and thank you for the suggestion.

I don't own Soul Eater… that's all there is to it.

-/-\-|-/-\-

11. Caring Raspberries with Black Salt

The Heart of a Grim Reaper

Tsubaki timidly raised a hand to knock on the large, black door of Gallows Manor and reeled back with an "Eep!" as it was flung open before her knuckles could make contact. As she blinked against the sudden bright light, the Dark Arm weapon spotted Patty's grinning face and she smiled nervously.

"Hiyah!" Patty cried, bowing deeply and sweeping an arm in front of her as Tsubaki hesitantly stepped inside. "What brings you here, long haired one?"

Tsubaki tilted her head to the side, wondering where it was Patty got most of the things she said. Shaking her head, the older girl inquired, "Is Kid here? I need to talk to him about… well, the mission that was a bit of a failure. I should've known the Eiffel Tower wouldn't have survived Black Star's habits."

Patty burst out into laughter, kicking the door shut and exclaiming, "Bye-bye, tower! I always thought it looked too skeletal."

Tsubaki grinned uneasily, rubbing the back of her neck before returning to the task at hand. "Yeah, everything about that. I wanted to apologize to Kid for it. I had a long talk with Black Star about coming over and apologizing himself, but he was too stubborn and doesn't believe he did anything wrong."

Patty giggled, leading Tsubaki to the staircase leading to the second floor and calling down to her, "Black Star is Black Star. I think Kid's upstairs."

"The little drama queen?" came a voice from overhead and both Tsubaki and Patty looked up. Liz stood at the top of the stairs, leaning against the railing with an exasperated look. "Yeah, he's upstairs. After all, the world did lose a symmetrical piece of art today. He's been moping." The older sister glanced over to Tsubaki, nodding once. "Hey, Tsubaki."

"Oh," Tsubaki murmured, feeling a stab of guilt before returning the demon pistol's greeting. "Can I talk to him?"

"Sure," Liz replied with a sigh, turning and walking down the hallway as Patty skipped after her, followed by Tsubaki. "He's been shut up in his room. You can go talk some sense into him. I was gonna get Patty to do it but…"

"You can have a crack at it first," Patty piped up cheerfully. All three came to a stop outside a closed black door and Liz rapped her fingers against it, calling, "Hey, Kid! Tsubaki's here to talk about the… uh… mission."

"The one that ended with the Eiffel Tower turning to a massive pile of metal!" Patty clarified, earning a long look from her sister.

"Anyway, she's coming in," Liz sighed, setting the door ajar and backing away with Patty. "Good luck, Tsubaki."

"Thanks," the weapon murmured quietly, staring into the darkness of the room with an apprehensive look. "I'll just head on in then, I guess…"

Tsubaki carefully slipped into the room, closing the door behind her and squinting through the darkness. She never really did consider how her classmate would act after a major symmetrical catastrophe like the one earlier that day. But now that she thought of it, sitting alone in the darkness, rocking back and forth as an attempt to soothe oneself sounded pretty accurate. That or him seething as he plotted revenge against the destroyer of his symmetrical fetishes while locked away in his own closet.

However, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness and the room became more clear with the help of an open window letting in pale moonlight, she found the room was empty. She guessed the only way someone could be in the room was if they were curled up underneath the bed or concealed in the closet.

"Kid? Are you in here?" Tsubaki called nervously, looking around for any signs of movement. "I wanted to talk about earlier today. Hello?"

"Right here, Tsubaki."

The Dark Arm weapon whipped around, putting a hand to her mouth to smother a startled shriek. Kid's upside down face was watching her from the open window, blinking expectantly and Tsubaki quickly rushed over. To her surprise, the Grim Reaper was actually looking down at her from the roof, and as soon as she approached, he pulled himself back onto the concrete archway.

"You wanted to talk about the mission?" Kid inquired, watching Tsubaki as she poked her head out the window and twisted it in his direction.

"Yeah," she replied in a strained voice, feeling her neck crack from the position she was putting it in.

"Just climb up," Kid advised, leaning down and offering her his hand. "It's not too difficult."

Tsubaki looked down at the shrubbery below her, gulping at the sudden thought of plunging into the greenery and violating the manor's symmetry. Looking up at Kid, she realized where he was sitting wasn't all that far away and she climbed onto the window sill. Grabbing the Grim Reaper's hand and placing her other on the edge of the roof, she lifted herself upwards until she could inch herself onto the arching roof beside the meister.

"See? Not so bad," Kid said as soon as the Dark Arm weapon was seated soundly beside him. "You were saying you wanted to talk about this morning?"

"Yeah," Tsubaki answered quietly, gazing down at the ground far beneath their feet. "I wanted to apologize for Black Star's actions. He can get so caught up in himself, he forgets about everything around him and what consequences will follow his actions. He never should have followed that kishin up the Eiffel Tower, and I'm really, really sorry."

"So why didn't he come and apologize?"

Tsubaki turned to the son of Lord Death, but his focus was on the black sky above their headed, shrouded in numerous specks of light. "He doesn't think he did anything wrong," she replied softly, looking down at her feet with a downcast expression. "We collected the kishin souls and he was the star of the show, that's what he thinks."

"Of course," Kid sighed, frowning up at the stars. "You're very impressive, Tsubaki. To put up with a person like that."

"Not really," Tsubaki murmured, cheeks going red from the sudden praise. "You get used to his antics, put your foot down on the extra disturbing things, and pretty soon you have him under control."

"If you don't mind telling me, how did you meet?"

The weapon thought about the inquiry for a few moments before shrugging. "It was at the entrance ceremony. He was being a loud mouth, but I thought his speech was nice. He said he wouldn't mind remembering my name and after running into each other a few times in class, we became partners."

"You didn't care about his past?" Kid asked, glancing at Tsubaki out of the corner of his eye.

The Dark blade shook her head, ponytail swishing back and forth. "I didn't think much of the tattoo, and I knew the Academy wouldn't let in a murderer. Besides, even if he was a killer, I believe he could have changed."

"I'm sure if anyone could have changed him it would've been you," the Grim Reaper stated solemnly, turning back to the stars. "You have that way with people."

Tsubaki smiled slightly before she followed the meister's gaze, counting the bright pin points in the sky before murmuring, "Black Star says it's always bright in Death City, even at night, so you can never see the stars."

"Sometimes there're nights like this one," Kid answered. "Which I'm grateful for. I don't think I could ever get used to a world without stars."

"The sky is always full of stars at home," Tsubaki said quietly. "Masamune and I always sat out and looked at the night sky. He always enjoyed pointing out the constellations to me."

Kid turned his attention to the Dark Arm weapon, frowning when she wiped a hand across her eyes. With a fraction of a smile, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder without saying a word.

Tsubaki ran her thumb under her left eye, sniffing a little before whispering, "Sorry. I don't usually talk about my brother, and when I do, I'm almost always calm. I guess it's been awhile since I've thought about how we looked at the stars together. I'm sorry to be a bother."

"Don't worry about it," Kid spoke gently, rubbing her shoulder before withdrawing his hand. "You're no bother at all."

The Dark Arm weapon smiled at the reaper's sympathetic tone and cleared her throat, wiping the remaining traces of sadness from her face. Pushing the happy memories of her and her brother elsewhere for the time being, she focused on the sky above her head once more. "You don't have siblings, right?"

The Grim Reaper shook his head slowly.

"Do you ever wish you had siblings?"

Beside her, Kid was silent, frowning thoughtfully at the question and assuring Tsubaki it was fine when the dark haired weapon began worrying it was a sensitive topic. With a shrug of his shoulders, he murmured, "I don't usually think about it. I am a fragment of my father with the soul purpose of being the next Lord Death. It's a job that doesn't require brothers or sisters, even a mother. I wouldn't even need a female partner to stand by my side."

Tsubaki looked down where her hands were folded in her lap before saying quietly, "I think that'd be sad. There has to be someone out there for everyone, even for Grim Reapers who don't need wives. Even if she won't be the mother of your child, wouldn't you want that relationship with a person?"

Again, the Grim Reaper beside her considered the inquiry before replying, "I don't know if I'd be capable of feeling such emotions. My father loves me, yes, but most of the time, it feels like there's a barrier we can't cross. Something that keeps us from showing our feelings freely." Kid turned to Tsubaki, countenance unreadable. "Because that's the kind of attitude Grim Reapers need when carrying souls to the afterlife."

"That's ridiculous."

Kid blinked, startled by the bluntness of Tsubaki's statement, and the Dark Arm weapon's face went red. "W-Well, what I mean is…" She inhaled deeply, thinking about her next words before finishing, "Why did you get stuck with such a heartless job? Who gets to decide if you can love someone or not? Even if you don't truly know how to, you can still show them affection, care for them, and be with them all the time. That's what I think love would be. Surely it isn't difficult for Death to do that?"

The Grim Reaper was quiet, watching Tsubaki with an expression she couldn't quite place as puzzlement or deep in thought. Either way, the girl hoped she was making sense and didn't give the appearance of a rambling idiot.

"I wouldn't mind living with a barrier between me and someone I care about," Tsubaki began, looking up at the constellations before them, "because if they showed affection and kindness and were always with me, I could live with the heart of a Grim Reaper. To me, there would never be that wall of ice."

They sat in silence after that with Kid fixated on the night sky and Tsubaki's cheeks flushed while she stared at her feet. She had to admit, she'd been a little intense, but she couldn't help herself. She'd always thought the emotions of a Grim Reaper were rather depressing, and she wanted to tell Kid, as well as herself, that death gods could still love, even with icy hearts. And she'd meant what she'd said, too, about having a relationship with a Grim Reaper. Where would the cold wall be if he cared about her and they spent their lives together? She just didn't see it.

"We're still young, Tsubaki," Kid murmured after a few minutes.

Tsubaki narrowed her eyes in bewilderment, wondering what the boy meant before he turned to look at her and finished, "But if I'm ever able to show the affection and kindness you described when I'm older, perhaps it'll be towards you."

The long haired girl blinked in surprise before she felt her cheeks grow even warmer than before, and she turned away from the reaper, folding and unfolding her hands in her lap.

"That is, if you're okay with it," Kid added with a soft smile, and Tsubaki looked back up at him, opening her mouth slowly but at a loss for words.

'…because if they showed affection and kindness and were always with me, I could live with the heart of a Grim Reaper. To me, there would never be that wall of ice.'

Timidly smiling back at the golden eyed meister, Tsubaki gave a short nod. "Yeah. That'd be okay."

-/-\-|-/-\-

A/N: I don't know how many days this fic sat unfinished, but I'm glad I finally got it done… even if it didn't go in the direction I thought it would.

This one-shot is before chapter 108 of course. Going by current chapters in Soul Eater's manga, I wonder if Kid has a mother or not. Apparently, Death mentions her in the earlier chapters of the manga, and I will worship whoever can tell me where that part is because I have never found it.