And this is done! Kid meets Asura for the first time as his brother. I tried to make it a little awkward of a first meeting so I hope I did okay.
"Hey Kid!" Said boy turned slowly, eyes meeting the blonde girl's next to him. She looked somewhere between pissed and curious as she spoke,t hough he figured the former wasn't his fault when he heard mumbled complaints from the girl's weapon as he rubbed his head. "Um, we were going to get ice cream since our game is over, remember?"
Blinking in surprise, he nodded, "Oh? Right, I'm coming." He was so out of it at the moment, he hadn't noticed that his friends were leaving without him. As he fell into step beside the girl, Maka, he let his mind wander back to his previous thoughts. Something was definitely going on he knew, since Vajra's revival people kept staring at him or whispering. When he asked, they wouldn't answer either. Thankfully Liz had been able to find out what was going on, even if she hadn't been able to tell him. 'It's nothing to worry about Kid, but I can't tell you since it's something your dad swore me and Patty to secrecy about. Besides, it's really something you should hear from him.'
That didn't help much, but at least he knew he would get an answer eventually. "You've been awful quite today Kid, you okay?" This time Soul was the one to speak up, dragging the Reaper's attention back to the conversation. There was a moment of silence between everyone before the albino added, "Are you...thinking about Asura again?" No, but his mind was about to drag him down that road again.
"Uh...yeah. I can't help but worry." The boy said. "I blacked out before Liz and Patty got me out of there, but I heard he gave himself up to the Kishin to buy us time to escape. The last thing I remember clearly is that pillar collapsing on them." The three of them, himself and his weapons, had agreed never to talk about how he'd panicked upon waking up in the infirmary because he thought the girls were dead. Apparently it was enough to make even Patty uneasy.
"It's okay Kid. I've been there, not being able to help my partner, and it's difficult." Maka stated, patting his shoulder gently. "But Liz and Patty are fine! And I'm sure Asura is fine too, I mean if he were dead, we would have heard about it by now." He nodded, that was true but he still felt responsible.
"Oh, by the way, isn't that Asura guy supposed to be really strong?" Black Star asked, glancing back at the shinigami. His eyes flashed, giving away his eagerness to fight the other.
Soul nodded, "Yeah, you did say something about him being pretty tough right? So he should be alright." Kid sighed at that. It was expected of Black Star to ask that though.
"Black Star, if I can kick your ass, Asura would destroy you." He said, shaking his head at the offended look on his friend's face. "Seriously though, the only person stronger than Asura is supposed to be father so I think it's safe to assume that he's on a completely different level than us. And do not go picking fights with him while he's supposed to be recovering."
The ninja huffed, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. "I won't. It would be a huge disadvantage for that guy to fight me if he's injured anyway. I'm supposed to be a fair god after all, so I'll let him heal first!"
"...right..." The others eyed the blue haired boy warily before nodding.
"Ah! Kid, do you think you can find out about Asura? Like...how he's doing or if we can visit him?" Tsubaki asked nervously. Kid stared at he for a moment, debating whether it was worth it or not to try. Slowly the boy nodded. "Thanks, I'm just...well, I would feel better if I could actually see how he is myself. And I would think he might be lonely. It can't be good to leave him alone, since he spent so long on his own."
The young shinigami nodded. He could see the logic behind that, even if the girl was only rambling. "I'll ask father tomorrow, he wanted to speak to me anyway." With the excited smiles and hopeful looks his friends were giving him, he knew he would have to find out one way or another.
Upon entering the Death Room, Kid was shocked to see his father standing before him in his human form. It was a little jarring to see since the boy had come to associate it with serious, personal, or private matters. Even so, the man's amber eyes seemed brighter than he remembered from the last time he saw them. A large grin was plastered on his face too and he was quick to herd his son to a seat. "C'mon, c'mon Kiddo! Sit! There's something big we need to talk about!"
The boy had no room to protest against being manhandled as he was shoved down to the couch that had just appeared. The older Reaper sat beside him, right on the edge of the seat. "Okay, well Kiddo, I was talking to Spirit and he said I shouldn't just jump right to the point for this sort of thing. So I just want to talk for a bit! How's school been? Are you feeling alright? You did get thrown about quite a bit when Vajra revived. Nothing's been hurting you?"
For a long moment Kid didn't answer, too put off by Shinigami's rapid-fire questions to think straight. Just sat, staring at his father's smiling face while he tried to process everything that had just happened. This strange, jittery side to the man confused him, but there had to be a reason for it. When he realized he hadn't responded, he quickly said, "School is fine..."
"Um...it's just the same old thing, Professor Stein gives us dissection lessons in homeroom. Black Star got detention again. Soul almost got detention again. Uh, Maka lent me a book too, some fantasy story I haven't actually looked at yet..." He ran his hands down the front of his suit then, smoothing out wrinkles that weren't there. Shinigami recognized it as one of Kid's nervous habits. Kid was far too stubborn to admit it but he had a lot and they usually happened when he wanted to say something. The chances of getting his son to share what he was thinking were probably slim but he knew how to get him to speak up, he just had to be patient.
"Good! Glad things are going quite normally for you!" There was the slightest tug of a frown on the boys face, but it was quickly replaced by the previous, neutral expression. "Well then, are you doing alright? Does anything hurt?"
Kid's hand drifted to his chest. "It's fine... doesn't hurt too much anymore. Sometimes it aches a bit but..." He ran a hand down the black fabric again rather absentmindedly.
"Yeah, broken ribs will do that to ya." The man said, ruffling the boy's hair and getting a frustrated groan in response. Kid was quick to fix his hair once Shinigami moved his hand. "And how are you settling in up here? Are the girls doing well too?" Kid bit his lip then, tapping on his leg with one hand eight times before he stopped and mimicked it with the other.
"Liz and Patty are okay. Liz is still a little shaken up and jumpy though." He stated simply, not sure what else to say. The other question hit him and he started tapping his fingers again, not really wanting to answer.
"Kid?" When the boy looked up at the sound of his name, Shinigami said, "Go ahead, tell me what's wrong." Kid bit his lip again and straightened his clothes again. It seemed like he was debating whether or not to say what he wanted.
Finally the young Reaper sighed. "It's a few things. I want to go home, back to the manor. I don't understand why we can't rest at home." Kid started, taking a deep breath before he added, "And I wanted to ask you about Asura. We haven't heard anything about him since the revival and everyone is worried."
'... I'm sorry Kiddo, I know you want to go back home, but I'm not willing to put your safety at risk. This kind of ties into what I wanted to talk to you about too." The boy perked up slightly after hearing that and the Reaper smiled. "This also involves Asura, so I'll start with that."
Shinigami received a nod at that, so he began. "When you came to me, demanding to know about Vajra do you remember what I said about Asura?" Kid nodded again.
"You said he was your apprentice. And that he was scared of everything, and that he was very powerful among other things." Kid stated, watching the man scratch the back of his head almost nervously.
"Well, yes, that's true. However, I left out one teensy little...major important detail about Asura. While he was still my apprentice, he was also much more. He's...ah, well he's my son and your older brother." Shinigami paused after that, watching as the information seemed to sink in. Kid blinked once, twice, then shifted his gaze to his hands that were folded neatly in his lap.
"Oh..." Was the oddly quiet response he got and the Reaper began counting backwards in his head. 5, 4, 3, 2, and- "HE'S WHAT?! What do you mean he's my brother?! Why didn't you say something?!" Kid shouted, leaping to his feet and rounding on his father angrily. He tried to find something anything that he missed during his encounters with the older boy that might have hinted at it.
That explained why Asura looked so familiar when he caught a glimpse under his hood. He had similar features that he could see in his father and himself. All three shared the same eye and face shape, but his own hair was longer than Asura's and Shinigami's. However, Asura was much thinner than himself and his father. And of course that's why his hair was black and white! As far as Kid knew, only Reapers had hair like that because of the presence of the Sanzu Lines. Now he felt stupid.
"Why didn't you tell me? Does anyone else know?" The boy asked, quieter now than before. He looked hurt and shocked, both of which the Reaper found understandable. "I'm sorry, I just...a brother... it's strange to think that I have a brother..."
"It's alright Kiddo. I know this is sort of a lot to take in. I never told you because I never saw the point. When I still thought he was dead, it seemed senseless to tell you that you had a brother you would never meet. And before he came here, I wasn't entirely sure still. I didn't want to get your hopes up only to find out he wasn't Asura." Shinigami explained, leaving out the fact that he just didn't like talking about his older son.
Kid nodded, finding it reasonable enough to understand. He supposed he wouldn't want to bring up something like that either. "What about the manor, what does Asura have to do with not being allowed to go home?" He asked, sitting down again and fixing his gaze on his father. The man frowned immediately, one hand clenching into a fist.
"Okay, well, I originally called you here to tell you about your brother, but there's a few things I need to share before you can go meet him. No-"
"I can meet him? Today right?" Kid asked once the words left his father's mouth, his previous question forgotten for the moment with the change of subject. He knew he shouldn't have interrupted, but his curiosity was making him excited to meet the older boy again. This time as family.
"Kid. I know you're curious and all but please listen carefully." The man scolded.
"Sorry father."
"Now where was I? Oh yes! When Stein was treating Asura's wounds he noticed an older one that should have been healed a long time ago. In fact, his healing was incredibly slow compared to your recovery. After a while he figured out that something was blocking Asura's powers. It explains why he didn't just pinpoint the city and fly home the day he escaped. Or why he couldn't escape sooner. That 'something' turned out to be this." Shinigami reached under the couch and pulled out a plastic gallon bag. He handed it to Kid, who reached out and took it gingerly.
Inside were two halves of a metal ring that seemed just big enough to fit around his neck. The outside was covered in symbols he recognized from Vajra's revival and the inside was stained a rusty red, black in some places. He opened the bag and glanced up at his father, who nodded. Carefully he grabbed one half but didn't get it out before he dropped it again. The bag hit the ground with a loud clang as Kid looked turned to his father for an answer to what he just felt.
He had never really noticed how far exactly his Soul Perception reached until he felt it's range shrink to almost nothing. And then there was the static feeling crawling up his arms, like pins and needles. "What the fuck was that?" He mumbled, eyeing the metal cautiously as if it was going to bite him.
"Like I said, it's why Asura couldn't come home sooner. It's some sort of sealing spell carved into the collar. I've never seen one so detailed before." The Reaper mused, reaching out to pick the bag up off of the floor. "I am going to have this locked up tightly as far from the world as possible. Stein wants to study the spell before I have it destroyed. We don't need any of our enemies getting ahold of this after all, but it would help to see if we could counter it's effects just in case."
"C-collar?" Sure he had already guessed that much, but hearing it said out loud was much worse. "That's...is he okay? Asura I mean...he's going to be okay?" Shinigami's silence was not reassuring in the least.
The shade spoke up after a moment of thought. "Honestly, your brother's a mess right now. I...he..." The man had to pause, choking back the anger and disgust he felt when thinking about his next words. "Kid, he was literally tortured before I sealed the Kishin, and he's been isolated from any form of contact for eight hundred years. I won't lie, it will not be easy to help him. When you meet him, avoid talking about Vajra, or anything else from back then. And if he brings something up try to change the subject. He was prone to random panic attacks before all this, but they were never like the one he had when I saw him yesterday."
"Okay. Okay...I can do that. Can the others meet him though?" Kid asked.
"I suppose, but don't bring them all at once. I don't want to overwhelm him." Shinigami said, smiling as Kid nodded. "Okay, and Kid? You can't go back to the manor yet because Vajra knows the layout, which is almost the same as it was eight hundred years ago. On top of that, it would take longer for me to reach you than if you're here with me and if he could hide your brother from me, surely he could hide himself. I really am sorry, but I have to keep you safe."
"...I understand." Kid said, though the frown on his face made it obvious that he wasn't pleased with the answer. "So...can I go see Asura?" Shinigami nodded, standing up and picking the plastic bag up again.
"Sure thing! This-a-way Kiddo!" The man exclaimed, leaving his son to scramble to his feet and hurry after him.
Asura wasn't sure how long he'd been awake, but he kind of, sort of figured it had been a few hours. He still didn't trust this place enough to use the bed properly, preferring to sleep sitting in the corner with his back against the wall and his knees pulled up to his chest. He rarely moved from the spot, never knowing what or who to expect. Thankfully it had only really been that teacher...Stein, he thought. The man came in earlier in the day to change his bandages, but Asura had refused to let him close. There was something he didn't like about the man, maybe it was the glint of madness in his eyes that he hadn't noticed when they first met?
It didn't matter, he was probably being paranoid. The Reaper glanced up at the door, half expecting his father to come strutting in with his brother in tow. It hasn't happened yet, but it would soon right? Shinigami promised, he had to show up with his brother, right? ... maybe not, he'd made promises before that never happened. Despite his efforts to not get his hopes up, Asura could feel that very emotion and the nervous anticipation pooling in his gut. The combination made him somewhat nauseous.
Thankfully, he didn't have time to make it worse by worrying as the door to his room swung open then. His head snapped up and his red eyes met a shimmering yellow-gold. The younger boy carefully closed the door, breaking eye contact for only a brief moment. Soon enough he was facing the older Reaper again, scrutinizing every detail of the boy who was supposed to be his brother. He could certainly see the similarities, but there were a few things that threw Kid off.
The first thing he noticed was that Asura had a third eye, right in the middle of his forehead. It was the same rose red as the other eyes, but it lacked the strange white marks around the pupils. Kid found himself wondering how/why those marks were there when the only real oddity in his own and their father's eyes were the slightly darker rings in the iris. His brother shifted nervously and hugged his knees tightly to his chest, ducking his head a bit so his bangs fell over the third eye and hid it from view.
The next thing Kid noticed was the two full stripes in the other's hair. He was completely missing the third stripe though, and some part of Kid told him that was wrong. The feeling was shoved to the side by the pleasing thought that his brother's appearance was perfectly symmetrical as far as he could see. So figuring that he had been quiet long enough, the boy said, "Hello again Asura." He even tried to smile at the other.
Asura didn't answer at first. He found he couldn't. Since he was told that he would be meeting his brother for the first time as brothers, the Reaper had been thinking about what he wanted to say to the boy. However now that his brother really was standing there in front of him, he couldn't seem to find any of the words he'd planned to use. But the younger shinigami was waiting for a response. With an undignified squeak, he returned the greeting. "...h-hello, brother..." Almost immediately, a pink blush dusted his cheeks and he hid his face entirely.
"Ah! Hey wait! I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?!" Kid asked, slightly alarmed by his brother's actions. He tried to think of what he could have said, but all he did was greet the older boy. Using his Soul Perception, Kid focused it on his older brother. Where his own soul was a bright, shining gold, Asura's was dull. It was still gold, like all Reaper souls, but it seemed to be worryingly lackluster in it's color and smaller than his own. The soul shook and shivered constantly and that was when he realized what Shinigami meant by 'Asura is scared of everything'. Did that mean...? "Are...are you scared of me?"
There was a sharp gasp from the other Reaper, but it wasn't until Kid sat himself on the bed that he raised his head enough so one could see his eyes. Besides the third one, he was intent on hiding that one for now. "...I...I'm afraid to...to mess this up...I apologize. I did not mean to make you worry..." Kid stared at the red eyed boy, surprised to have gotten an answer. The he offered what he hoped looked like a reassuring smile. It seemed to work, he caught the corners of Asura's mouth curl up just barely.
"It's alright. Um, I'm sorry too. I... well, I'm not sure what I'm doing really. I never had a brother before and I am not sure what to say." The younger shinigami admitted, smoothing out the imagined wrinkles in his clothes.
"I've never had a brother either... I apologize if I make a mistake." Asura replied quietly, eyeing his brother like a cornered animal would watch a predator. Kid almost sighed at the action, but stopped himself. If he did, Asura might think Kid was disappointed in him and not that he was disappointed that his brother was so nervous around his own family.
The younger boy simply said, "You don't have to apologize all the time you know. I don't exactly expect you to be the perfect brother after we just met."
"Oh, okay...sorry..." Asura mumbled absentmindedly, a moment later realizing he had done exactly what he was he was asked to stop. "Ah! Sorry! um..I-I mean...uh...sor-" The older shinigami finally clamped one hand over his mouth to keep himself from saying any more and averted his gaze to his feet. He couldn't stop thinking that he'd already messed up badly and that Kid didn't like him. Why couldn't he just act normal for once? Sure Asura knew it wasn't really his fault, but he should be able to control his own fears enough to act normal, right?
Kid just sat watching his brother. It was strange to think he even had a brother, he was so used to being an only child. What did brothers talk about? Kid wasn't sure, but he could see the silence was starting make his brother restless as the boy kept shifting and picking at his clothes. So, Kid blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"My friend Black Star really wants to fight you." As soon as those words left Kid's lips, he felt like banging his head against the wall. What the hell was he thinking, telling his easily frightened brother one of his friends wanted to fight him? It was such a dumb thing to do!
Thankfully Asura didn't seem to be too upset, instead he lifted his head and asked, "Black Star...? Was...was that the blue haired ninja with the Nakatsukasa weapon partner?" For a long second, Kid was floored. He hadn't expected that to be what caught Asura's attention.
Clearing his throat, the younger boy said, "Yeah that's Black Star. His weapon is Tsubaki. How did you know she was from the Nakatsukasa clan?" Asura's hand twitched and he took a sharp breath, surprised by the question.
"Um...I-I saw her partner wielding the cursed sword...it's a weapon form exclusive to the Nakatsukasa clan and a sign of their relation to D-group weapons. Or, that's what I was told." He stated, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "I don't know much about it though, I wish I could tell you more about it. It really is strange." The Reaper risked a glance at his little brother, and suddenly he felt a surge of pride. Kid was sitting there staring at him with undivided attention, clearly interested in what he had said. He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face.
"Can you tell me what you know?!" Kid asked and Asura was about to respond before he realized he might be walking on thin ice with this conversation. His grin fell quickly and he looked anywhere but at Kid. He did want to tell Kid everything, just so he could see that look of excitement. To know he made his brother so happy, it felt nice...but if he kept talking about it he might say something he wasn't supposed to. He was told Kid didn't know everything about the past.
When he didn't explain it right away, Kid's expression dropped to one of disappointment. With a panicked squeak, Asura said, "I'll tell you later! I swear! I-I... I just don't feel comfortable talking about it right now... I really am sorry brother." He sighed in relief when his brother's face softened, a look of understanding cutting through the disappointment in his eyes.
"Fine, but I'll hold you to that." The boy relented, any last lingering bitterness washing away at the bright grin on Asura's face.
"Thank you...um, do you think you can tell me about your friends? I-If that's alright with you of course!" The last part was hastily added as an afterthought. Still, Kid nodded.
"Sure, I'll start with Black Star. He's loud, annoying, and way too energetic. Everything is always a competition with him and he loves to boast about how 'great' he is. He also likes challenging people stronger than him and we've fought quite a bit." Kid explained, making air quotes as he said the word 'great'. "But he's never afraid to say what he wants to, even if it would be better to keep quiet. It a double edged sword. And he always stands up for what he believes in."
"Tsubaki is nice, and she's a very welcoming person. Sometimes she can be a bit shy, but it's never been a problem. You'll like her I'm sure." He reassured the other Reaper. "And Maka is okay too, except when you piss her off. She'll hit you with a book, calls it a 'Maka Chop'. Usually she hits Soul or Black Star because they like to tease her. Otherwise she's pretty nice and understanding. Also she really likes to read. Her weapon is Soul, he's nice too. He can be considerate when he wants to be. Usually he's too busy picking on Maka and trying to be cool."
Asura nodded slowly, smiling slightly. He decided he liked it when Kid talked about his friends. There was a look of joy in his gold eyes to match the smile on his face. It was comforting to see his brother smile. "What about your weapons? What are they like?" If he thought Kid looked excited a moment ago, he was even more enthusiastic now.
"You mean Liz and Patty? They're the best weapons. Not only are their weapon forms perfectly symmetrical, but they were my first real friends. I mean, after I was sent to apprehend them and they tried to mug me. It's fine now and I've been in worse situations before." The boy said, trailing of slightly as he mentioned how he met his weapons. He wasn't sure how Asura would feel about knowing that the girls were criminals before. "Anyway, I wanted to introduce you to Liz first, maybe tomorrow if that's fine with you. Liz is the older sister and she's much calmer than Patty. And Patty isn't too bad, she's just very hyper."
"I wouldn't mind... will you be there too? I don't want to say something wrong..." The older boy stated, glancing up at Kid for a brief moment before looking away again. Deciding to test his boundaries a bit, Kid shuffled closer. Asura immediately looked at him, curling back slightly before taking a shaky breath and forcing himself to relax a little. "M-maybe not tomorrow... I... I am not even used to you yet... sorry..."
Kid only nodded. "It's alright, if you would rather wait I don't mind." He could hear the relieved sigh from his brother then and he remembered that he couldn't get too ahead of himself. Their father had said to try not to overwhelm him. Maybe he could find something for his brother to do tomorrow. "So was there anything you used to like to do?"
"Um... I-I liked to read mostly... or draw when I was bored, though I wasn't very good. W-we were all very busy with...well, everything...um, I also used to lay on the roof of the Manor at night and watch the stars." Asura said, unconsciously sitting up straighter and uncurling a bit. "Or walking around when no one else was awake and exploring..."
"Well, I'm not sure about the exploring, but I can get you new books and maybe something to draw with." The younger Reaper offered, surprised by how quickly his brother perked up.
"Really?!" He asked, leaning forward slightly with a hint of excitement in his voice. "You can?! Oh, please can you bring some tomorrow? Wait, will you be back tomorrow? Please come back, it's so quiet and lonely and I don't like it. I keep hearing things and it's scary a-and..." Asura trailed off, ducking his head again and actively avoiding Kid's gaze.
Offering the kindest smile he could, Kid nodded. He was admittedly surprised by the sudden question, but supposed the oddly desperate request was to be expected. Asura was all alone here, probably not seeing any one but Shinigami and maybe a couple teachers. "Of course I'll be back. I might come a bit later tomorrow though, because classes are supposed to start up again. Which means that there will be a lot of people here tomorrow. I figured you should know just so you're not surprised."
"O-oh... okay. Th-thank you for telling me..." The older boy mumbled. Neither knew what to say after that, and an awkward silence quickly filled the room. Asura slowly grew tense again and Kid couldn't think of anything else that he could talk to him about. Now agitated by his on inability to help his brother, Kid tried to find something, anything to talk about. Instead of finding something useful, his eyes landed on the disorganized mess that was Asura's bookcase. He felt his right eye twitch, biting his lip and slowly tapping on his left leg to try to keep from having one of his 'fits', as Liz so kindly put it.
It seemed Asura had picked up on his brother's anxiety though, as he risked a glance at the boy. "Um..b-brother...?" He tried, slowly looking between Kid and the shelf that seemed to earn his ire. The younger boy didn't even seem to hear him, but he still added, "Please don't glare holes through my books. I am quite fond of them."
Kid's gaze flickered from the bookshelf to his brother, and there was a heart-stopping moment where the boy's glare was set on Asura. Then his eyes softened and he looked away. "Ah, sorry...I got a bit distracted." Kid tried to brush it off as easily as he could, but his irritation at the mess was still going full force. He began tapping on his other leg this time.
"Is... is something wrong?" Asura asked slowly, trying to be careful. However Kid took the question as his chance to finally go off.
"YES!" Kid shouted, throwing both of his arms out before using them to gesture wildly at the shelf. Asura reeled back in a mix of shock and fear, startled by the sudden shout. "That shelf! It's completely disorganized! Honestly there's no order to it at all. Not by size or color! Not even alphabetical order by title or author! How can you live like this!?" Hastily getting to his feet, Kid approached the shelf. He glared at it again before turning to ask if there was any reason his brother kept it like this.
As he faced Asura again, he couldn't help the guilty feeling stabbing into his chest. The older Reaper was pressed as far back into the corner as he could go, with his eyes blown wide and arms ridged at his sides. One leg was still tucked close to his chest while the other stretched out a bit, like he used it to push himself back. Swallowing nervously, Kid asked, "...Asura? Are you okay?" It took a moment for him to respond, but eventually Asura looked up and blink owlishly at the boy.
Taking a shaky breath, he quietly replied, "F-fine...I...I'm fine..." Kid looked on, unconvinced, as he took deep breaths to steady himself. He was not going to panic like he did in front of their father. Kid did not need to see him like that. "I...I put them in the order I wanted to...to read them...I'm finished with them all though...s-s-so...um, y-you can rearrange them. If you'd like to that is..." With a somewhat hesitant nod, Kid turned around and started pulling books off the shelf.
He had quickly lost himself to the familiar comfort cleaning and organizing gave him. It helped him clear his mind when he couldn't think straight and he could usually figure things out better while focusing on the chores he set for himself. Currently he was reminding himself to be more considerate where his brother was involved, it certainly wouldn't do if Asura was too scared of him to accept his help. Eventually Kid ran into a problem with his self designated task, he couldn't reach the top shelf enough to pull the books down. Kid looked around the room, spotting the chairs around he table. He moved to grab one, but when he turned around he flinched back and squeaked. Asura was standing where he just was, looking anywhere but at Kid with his arms full of books.
"Geez, you scared me..." The boy sighed, shaking his head. He hadn't heard any movement from his brother and he didn't know if he was that focused on organizing the books, or if Asura was just that quiet. The older Reaper glanced up at him for a moment, guilt flashing in his eyes before he lowered them to stare at the ground. "It's alright you know. Just...make some noise next time. It's not a good idea to sneak up on some of the people here."
"O-okay..." Asura mumbled, offering the books to Kid. "I...um, I'll try. H-here."
"Oh, thank you. Would you mind getting the rest of those for me?"He asked, watching the older boy glance at the shelf before looking back at him. Then he turned, pulling books from the shelf and handing them off to Kid. In a few minutes he had finished and turned to Kid with a small smile.
"Th-that's the last one..." He announced quietly, hurrying back to his preferred corner of his bed. Kid muttered a quick thanks and went back to his task, sorting through each book and setting them back on the shelf. This time he actually used the chair to reach the higher shelves so he wouldn't have to bother his brother with the task.
Finally finished, Kid announced, "There! Finished! That's so much better!" Turning to face Asura once again, he grinned. "Don't you think so?" Asura looked up curiously from his own task of tying knots in his dirty scarves. He had been slowly unraveling them to start over when Kid spoke up again.
"Huh?" His red eyes landed on the shelf and then flickered to Kid, who looked very proud of himself. "O-oh! Y-yes? Thank you brother..." The Reaper trailed off, his voice getting quieter as he shifted restlessly. Kid seemed to glow with pride, obviously enjoying the thanks he got. Asura had to wonder if anyone else had ever reacted positively to his brother's quirks. He knew many people had found his own to be a bother, maybe his brother had the same problem? Even though he wanted to, he didn't ask. It could be a touchy subject and he wasn't about to ruin the first new relationship he'd had since he got free.
"Good!" The boy exclaimed, quickly fixing his suit. "Well, I have been here for a while, so I should probably go...uh, okay, this is bothering me though. Your scarf is a mess, would you mind if I took it to clean it?" He watched Asura hesitate and tacked on, "I'll try to have it back later tonight or tomorrow morning, I promise." A moment of silence passed before Asura slowly pulled it off and folded it carefully, then handed it to Kid. "Okay, thanks. I'll see you later."
"G-good bye..." Was the quiet reply he got, and he glanced back one more time before the door closed to see the older boy slowly curling up in his corner.
Up Next: Kid and Asura spend some time together. And maybe, probably Liz and Patty.