A/N: Set after the Salvage Arc in the manga, so possible spoilers.
Chapter 21. Worry
It isn't strange, not in the least. That's what the assassin tells himself while shifting on his heels to ease the cramp in his foot. He doesn't know how long he's been perched on the windowsill—twenty minutes, maybe? The night is a little cold, and he wishes he'd worn his sweater, but he doesn't feel like going back home to retrieve it. Unfortunately, he's also letting the cool breeze into the room he's watching, but it doesn't seem to bother the individual inside.
Black Star frowns and slowly lowers himself into a seated position, pulling one knee up and allowing the other to dangle off the edge of the sill. How long will he stay here? He isn't tired, and even if he did feel the need to sleep, a quick nap in the window would be fine. He did get caught that way once, so why should a second time be an issue?
Inside the room, a figure is hunched over a broad desk that has been covered in books. He is in a deep sleep and only the steady rise and fall of his shoulders indicates any sign of life.
Sign of life. Black Star considers the phrase for a few moments and bows his head. That's not what he's concerned about, not really. He doesn't believe the shinigami can pass away in his sleep from exhaustion, it's just not his style. If Kid is to die, Black Star has determined he'll go down fighting. However, he won't be doing much fighting if he's too tired from a lack of sleep.
The assassin watches Kid's breathing, silently counting each breath to pass the time. When he makes it to one hundred forty-three, he stops and turns to where the moonlight strikes the large clock above Kid's desk. The hands tell him it's past two in the morning, and Black Star momentarily thinks about returning home but the thought passes without any action from him.
It isn't creepy.
He'd asked Soul that after the first night spent in Kid's window. He'd asked if there was something wrong with it, if his actions could be seen as almost stalker-like. His friend had only shrugged and mumbled something about it being weird if Black Star were to share the bed, but aside from that, he was quiet on the matter. The scythe had been busy training with Maka, after all. Every since their journey into the Book of Eibon and the battle against Noah, things were different. He doesn't walk around Death City with Soul like they used to. The entertaining evenings they'd all spent at one home or the other have become somewhat nonexistent. Tsubaki helps Black Star train harder. Maka worries more. Liz and Patty don't joke as much. Black Star watches Kid sleep.
From where he sits, Kid stirs uncomfortably, and Black Star tenses only to realize his friend is still sleeping and not about to wake. He's had to flee the window once, but only on the second night.
When he first went to visit his friend at Gallows Manor, it had been to ask how Kid was doing after the whole business being Noah's prisoner and under the influence of The Black Mass. However, when he'd arrived, Kid had been just as he is now: collapsed over a collection of books with a candle still burning. Black Star would have left, but for whatever reason, he'd remained in the window and watched his friend with concerned eyes. The battle against Noah had taken a lot out of Kid, and although Black Star wasn't especially frantic about his friend's health, he was bothered.
He isn't worried about his friend not getting enough sleep. He's perplexed by the sudden change, the sudden need to sleep. As a shinigami, Kid never slept much from the start, but ever since the battle with Noah, he looks more hollow, as if pieces of him are slowly chipping away.
It was during the second night when he'd accidentally hit the window frame and jostled Kid from any dreams he may have been experiencing. While the shinigami meticulously scanned his room and leaned out the open window to catch a glimpse of a potential intruder, Black Star had twisted himself even further among the branches of the tree beside the manor. His friend never went back to sleep after that and grabbed a few books instead, allowing himself to disappear into their pages. A few minutes later, Black Star had left.
Black Star releases a long sigh and scratches an eyebrow, frowning up at the cackling moon before muttering, "What're you looking at, grinning freak?"
He isn't answered, of course, and the assassin scoffs before returning to his otherwise quiet watch. He wonders what his friend dreams about, and he occasionally considers the prospect of nightmares rather than a pleasant subconscious. Does a being who rarely sleeps dream of anything?
It's not bothersome, right? He'd asked Kid when his friend had caught him sneaking onto the windowsill during one of the nights. The grim reaper had approached so suddenly Black Star assumed he'd meant to attack. At the last minute, his friend had pulled back from the open window, pinched his tired eyes, and asked what the hell the assassin was thinking.
"What?" Black Star had exclaimed, leaping inside the room and cracking one of his wide, carefree smiles. "It's not bothering you or anything, right?"
"Aren't you a little old for this?" Kid had muttered, stifling a yawn with one hand. "Why don't you go home and get some rest? What are you even doing here?"
Black Star knew he couldn't voice his concerns then. He wasn't entirely sure how to go about with the conversation or bring up the fact his friend slept like a regular human with the occasional sunken eyes. He didn't want to bring up all the reasons for Kid's haunted expressions, so he'd simply shrugged and made the usual joke about mayonnaise. The joke had been met with silence and he was once again told to go home.
The sensation of gravity pulls Black Star out of a never-ending darkness, and he awakens just in time to catch himself from falling onto Kid's floor. The assassin shakes himself and blearily looks around, desperately trying to recognize his surroundings before remembering his current mission.
Kid is still asleep at his desk, and Black Star tries not to snort in irritation. He'd heard Soul telling stories about Maka falling asleep at her own desk and there were times the scythe would carry his meister to her bed. However, these were not things the scythe told his partner, nor is it any gesture Black Star is about to carry out for Kid. Although...
Black Star glances at the clock and then out the window, thinking about the long trek back to his own apartment with a gloomy countenance. Tsubaki has grown accustomed to him leaving early in the morning, so she won't be concerned to find him missing when she wakes. He just has to make it home for breakfast, that's all.
-/-\-|-/-\-
"What are you doing this time?"
Black Star cracks an eye open and mumbles groggily into the plump pillow where his head is buried. The partially confused, mainly exasperated face of his friend comes into focus, and the assassin groans tiredly.
"You've been showing up more often than usual," Kid observes from where he stands rather disapprovingly at the side of his bed. Black Star has a feeling the reaper is tapping his foot, too, but he isn't about to get up and check. He feels somewhat akin to a toddler refusing to leave his nice, warm blankets despite his mother's persistent nagging.
"Black Star."
The assassin turns his head but just barely. Kid almost sounds frustrated, but he'll get over it. He always does.
"Why are you here?" the shinigami demands.
If Black Star were more coherent, he'd make some smart ass comment about whether or not Kid means the meister's existence as a whole or rather his current resting place in Kid's bed. As it stands, he's too tired to make any jokes, so he slowly responds with the truth. "Eh. Worried."
Kid lowers his head, appearing to understand the answer even if it's rather vague. He doesn't speak for a few moments, but when he does, his words begin with a helpless sigh.
"Just because you worry doesn't mean you have to look out for me all the time," the shinigami murmurs solemnly.
"Sure it does." Black Star turns onto his side so his back is facing Kid, ignoring the slight cry of protest. "That's what friends do. They worry all the time, and being the big star I am, I look out for everyone."
-/-\-|-/-\-
A/N: Despite the sweet reasoning behind this one, I still had to laugh a little while writing the line 'Black Star watches Kid sleep.' I never thought I'd write that sentence. Leave some reviews, let me know what you think, favorite, follow, go learn some muay thai… What?
Thanks for reading! Enjoy your day, everyone.