Forever in the Never After

by Neko Anomaly

A new set of villain have risen and are targeting the families of the cast of Soul Eater. The story deals with the growing pains of the cast when they realized even Miesters and Weapons must eventual grow up. Story revolves around all cast. Kid POV SxMxK

21. Chapter 21

Definitions

Outousan and Chichi : Father

Tanuki: Racoon Dog Spirit that plays pranks. Want to see what a Tanuki looks like google "Chinese raccoon dog. "

Ghost names: Look them up if you're interested...they are real folks!

Updates:

Hey rewrites are continuing; Chapter 1-3 are now cleanup and changed slightly. Wordfiend has done a nice job on them. We're going to continue on doing this till were caught up. If it's been a while since you read them you may want to re-read them.

Author Alert: I Need your Input!

I dearly hope I didn't alienate you folks last chapter. If I did let me know. I know that sex scene was pretty mature and I only got a total of two reviews which scared the shit out of me. Did everyone quit reading? Did I do something bad? Hey just let me know. I have a option at the end of this chapter to do Tsubaki/Soul love scene and I want to know if you want it or should we just push past it. Because I am indecisive about this please write in and give me your thoughts. Things are going to be getting hectic soon and there might not be time to start develop it later. Sincerely Neko

Side Note: If you are having problems accessing part of the story I post it up uncut on my website souleater . popmanga . com the site is linked on my profile.

---

Forever in the Never After Chapter 21 Last Revised: Tuesday Feburary 21 2011 2:00 Version (5)

Time stops and the world was silent.

Kid awoke to find his body entangled with Maka's. Her tussled blond hair spilled around his head and his face lay against her bare breasts. He inhaled her scent and languidly stretched himself along her soft body. He reviewed the amazing events of the previous evening and decided that it had been much better than all the books and movies had prepared him for. He rubbed Maka's breast with his cheek and tried to untangle his feet from the sheets without waking her. He felt slightly sore and soiled and sought the comforts of a warm shower.

He looked over Maka's beautiful body again and changed his mind. Maybe he should take a cold one instead. It was raining in the netherworld, something that didn't happen often. Kid stretched and went to the nearest window. The rain splattered against the glass and willow wisps darted for shelter near the gables of the house. Kid watched an old lazy tanuki waddle up to the back door and death's butler tossed out some scraps to it. It appears the staff is back Kid mused. He realized he was standing in front of the window naked and immediately felt embarrassed. On examining the room again he noticed someone had been there, a few of Kid's things and his spartoi uniform laid trucked on a dresser just slightly inside the door, his overnight bag was there too. With a big colored drawing of a Giraffe on it attached with stickers. Kid thumbed the paper and noticed Patty's familiar writing on it. The note read "Forgot your clothes dumbass! Lucky I'm a good sister and sent them with the spook. I even packed your toiletry bag. You owe me!"

"Hey you! Who said you could get up and strut around naked? Get your rear back over here and come back to bed." Maka complained sleepily.

Kid looked over at his future bride and smiled. He leapt back in bed and buried his face in the covers. "Who can argue with a demand like that?"

Maka put her arms around Kid's neck and buried her face in his shoulder. "I'm not complaining! The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was that cute butt of yours." She smacked Kid's rear playfully accenting the word 'butt' with a loud smack.

"Surprised you didn't go blind." Kid scoffed.

"God, you feel like ice! How long have you been up walking around naked?" Maka flung the heavy velvet comforter and the blankets back over Kid and snuggled him against her.

Kid pulled the covers up over their heads and left a soft kiss on her lips. "I haven't been up long. But long enough to see Reginald has taken in a stray."

"What kind of stray animal would be here in the netherworld?" Maka asked in between kisses.

"An old tanuki. I saw him tossing it scraps this morning."

"A tanuki?" Maka perked up. She nearly hit Kid in the face as she scrambled to get out of bed.

"Is it still out there can I see it?" She asked intent on going to the window.

Kid grabbed on to her before she slid out of the bed, pulling her back under the covers.

"We'll go find it later. I don't want a mischievous spirit running around the house, because Reginald has a soft spot for animals."

Maka smacked Kid in the chest playfully.

"Aww…I think it's cute. To think that old geezer is taking care of a tanuki! He must be a really nice Hungry Ghost. How does a person like that become a hungry ghost anyway?"

"Usually it has to do with the way the possessions of the dead are disposed of. In Reginald's case he had been traveling the Tibet wilds looking for plants. He had no real family aside from the scientific community, he preferred flowers to people, and he died tragically with the samples he was trying to obtain."

"In Buddhism we give offerings to the ghosts, so they don't become hungry. We also try to make sure we don't keep a lot of the individual's belongings around and we're encouraged not to keep ashes and urns either."

"A few other religions do that too, actually. Many South American cultures offer whole alters covered with food to prevent hungry ghosts from forming. I can't honestly say there is a correlation to hungry ghosts and offerings, though. To be honest I don't usually stick around for funerals and death rites after I reap souls."

"Too bad. It would be nice to know what actually works or, better yet, to have a complete idea of which religion is right."

"There is no perfect religion. You can shoo that thought out of your head right now. Being a Shinigami means you respect all beliefs not just what you were brought up with. As far as we're concerned we are members of every belief system and try to see how those beliefs pertain to each individual that we reap."

Maka looked at Kid and nodded her understanding. "I guess I've got a lot to learn."

Kid smoothed his hand over Maka's hair.

"You're going to have forever to learn it; so don't worry about it. We'll do everything at our own pace, you and me. I'm not going to thrust you into reaping fast. We'll go slow and let you learn a little at a time. So what do you think, Pumpkin? You ready to start learning about the Shinigami world? I'm sure Dad wants to show you a few things today..."

"Pumpkin?" Maka interrupted.

"What, you don't like Pumpkin? What about Cupcake?"

"Cupcake!" Maka groaned.

"Yep, that'll be my new name for you. You smell like cupcakes…..and you taste like one too." Kid said in a suggestive voice.

"So I guess you're going into the annoying pet name phase then."

"Don't tell me you don't like Cupcake! It matches you so well. I guess I could call you Cookie instead."

Kid faked an impassioned moan and yelled "Oh Cookie! Please be gentle with me!"

"Oh hell no, you are not calling me Cookie! What 's with all the food names?"

Kid wrestled Maka onto her back and pinned her there. "Ok, maybe you need a Japanese pet name…. how about Odango."

"I'm not Sailor Moon. Don't even think about it."

"Bunny then? Oooh, even better: Koneko."

"You start yelling that and Blair will come meowing for you." Maka laughed, "I got it - you can call me Cupcake if I can pick out a name for you. How about Deathykins? Or Kiddo-poo?"

Kid burst out laughing, "You're horrible at this. My pet names rocked, you're just trying to emasculate me."

Maka bucked her body wildly trying to free herself and managed to flip Kid on his back. "Oh since you like Koneko so much why don't we call you Hellcat."

Kid wiggled underneath her seductively and pinched her nipples. Maka shrieked and covered them up with her hands. "Fine I get to call you Cupcake and you can call me Hellcat."

"Jeeze- I didn't expect you to agree to that one." Maka complained as Kid smacked her with a pillow.

"Hellcat is kind of cool, much better than Deathykins."

Maka slapped Kid with the pillow he threw at her, "While we're on the subject of annoying terms of endearment have you thought about when we're going to get married?"

"I figured we could get married after we graduate the academy. It's not that far off. Maybe we can bring you over as a Shinigami on the evening of the ceremony. Dad told me some of his ideas and how someone steps out of mortal life and into the role of Shinigami. It was kind of….. ummm…. weird but I'm sure we can work it into the ceremony. It would be cool to have all of our friends there to see you become the next Shinigami, as well as my wife." The words elated Kid and he kissed Maka tenderly.

"So what do I have to do?" Maka asked him, concerned, "Is the ceremony going to be gross, or hard, or violent? I don't want it to overshadow our wedding vows. I don't care about the big white wedding stuff so much, I don't mind if we just run off and elope somewhere."

"We are not eloping!" Kid exclaimed, shocked. "I want your dad and all our friends there too."

"Ooh! I've got an idea!" Maka exclaimed. "Since we're not members of any one church, let's go to Las Vegas and get married by Elvis! We can have all the bridesmaids dress up as show girls with glittery outfits and feathered head dresses. The guys can dress up like card dealers. No, better yet, magicians!"

Kid stared at her, amazed. He'd thought Maka would have preferred the big white princess gown and all the delicate sophistication of a traditional Japanese wedding, but here she was talking about eloping and getting married by Elvis in Las Vegas. Something told him her Dad would choose a wedding like that too. Hell, his dad would adore the idea; he'd be right in the middle of things picking out what color the headdresses should be.

Kid shook his head feeling slightly defeated. Weddings were for the brides to decide, not for the grooms. "Do we have to get married by fat Elvis? Or can we have a thin one? I like Young Elvis better than Sell-Out Elvis."

"I guess we could have a Young Elvis. Will it be hard to mingle in the Shinigami rites? Will I need to plan anything special?"

"Absolutely nothing, you leave that part up to me and Dad. Maybe we could have the wedding here though. So Dad can be there. We can bring in a priest from the church of Elvis. With what you're describing, Dad's robes won't stick out at all."

Maka smacked her forehead with her palm. "Ugh! How stupid of me! I forgot Lord Death can't leave. Of course we'll have it here! Ever since I saw him last night I keep thinking of him as a normal guy. I keep forgetting he has limitations to how far he can go. "

Kid was slightly taken back at that. Lord Death a normal guy. His father would have loved to hear that, too bad Maka hadn't said it in front of him.

"Do you think it's too soon to tell our friends that we're engaged? I feel like it's sinking in now and I'm bubbling over to tell someone."

"Why don't you let me find you a ring and give me a chance to smooth things over with Spirit then we can tell everyone about your scary Elvis wedding."

Maka blushed deep crimson, "I really would like to tell Tsubaki and I really don't care what Papa thinks. He'll probably just freak out again and act stupid."

Kid cringed. Hearing Tsubaki's name, it brought back the memory of the corpse he had seen just yesterday and had managed to block out of his mind.

"What's wrong?" Maka questioned, alarmed. The excitement vanished from her face and she began searching his face for the answer.

Kid paused for a moment and sat up in bed, "I was just thinking about Tsubaki's father."

"What happened yesterday? You never did tell me." Maka reached over and brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes.

"I was called down to the morgue to look at Tsubaki's father." Kid said reluctantly.

Maka's hands were cold this morning; they felt good combing through his hair. He nuzzled against her hand so he could feel that cold on his cheeks.

"How...How bad was it?" Maka asked apprehensively.

"It was bad, real bad. They wanted me to reap his soul but it was shredded; there were big parts of it missing," Kid answered, feeling nauseated. He left out the fact that there were big parts of Tsubaki's father missing as well. The face and chest of the corpse had been torn, and the body had obviously struggled before dying. Seeing a corpse in that condition wasn't a problem for Kid; he'd seen so many of them. So many bodies cleanly killed or horribly mutilated. Kid was fairly hardened to the sight of death, but this was the first time he'd been summoned to reap a soul that belonged to someone he knew. This wasn't just another body, it was a friend's father, and he was unreasonably angry that he'd been the one called to remove the tattered soul from its husk.

He scooted closer to Maka and laid his forehead against hers. For once he was in no mood to fool around; he just wanted to touch her, to be near her. To try and forget what he had done to the soul of Tsubaki's father.

"What happens to a soul that's cut up like that?" Maka asked quietly.

"It has to be sent to the netherworld so it can repair itself." Kid whispered.

"But if it's sent to the netherworld how can it reach clear light?" Maka's eyes widened in panic and she pulled back, searching Kid's face.

"You're Buddhist?"

"Yes," Maka nodded, "Shinto and Buddhist."

Kid looked at her reluctantly; he wasn't supposed to be telling any of this to her. Liz and Patty had a limited understanding of the Shinigami world but they weren't privy to the secrets surrounding life after death. Not even the Death Scythes knew of such things, it was a secret between Shinigami. He thought of not telling Maka, but keeping it from her seemed like the greater sin, and today that secret was eating him alive.

"That soul will not reach clear light in this lifetime." Death the Kid whispered to Maka.

"But Tsubaki and the funeral rites! No!" Maka stammered. Her eyes became wet and fierce. Tears spilled and ran down her face.

"You cannot tell Tsubaki. Please don't repeat this to any of our friends. You're not supposed to know about this." Kid begged miserably. Maka kissed his anguished face and crushed him against her in a fierce hug.

"You were called out of school to send Tsubaki's father to the netherworld." Maka whispered into his hair.

"Whatever you do you must not tell Tsubaki." Kid repeated, "It is her right to practice any death rites that pertain to her religion. It is not our place to interrupt those practices." Kid spoke as if reading from a rule book, "Who knows? Maybe it will work!" He added bitterly. His body was shaking and all Maka could do was hold him.

"Do Patty and Liz know about this?" Maka asked softly.

"I just said that humans can't know about what happens to the souls of the dead." Kid snapped.

"Don't be mad," Maka soothed, "Kid-kun I'm sorry you've had to carry this burden so long by yourself. I can't imagine how you must feel." unconsciously she began to pat his back gently, "To experience death like that... all the time, all your life...how can you stand it? " her voice cracked with raw emotion as Kid shuddered and clutched her. His neediness embarrassed him but he ignored it and pushed his face into her shoulder.

"It feels so good to finally have someone who understands."

"And what will you have to do when you give Lord Death his holiday?" Maka cried. Her mascara was running and she rubbed at her eyes, leaving inky black stains on her hands.

"When you come down here to take over will you be trapped here forever or will it just be a short time? You're not going to be stuck down here permanently are you? Certainly that can't be the case. "

"I will be doing this kind of thing everyday then. At least now I don't have to worry about bearing the burden all by myself. Dad will probably continue to help me in ways that he can." His last shred of dignity stopped him from crying. He couldn't weep like a child knowing it caused Maka to suffer more. He watched her struggling with her beliefs and he was already regretting the decision to tell her these things now. Kid reminded himself that Maka still wasn't a Shinigami yet. He had no right to dump this kind of stuff on her while she was still mortal. He should have waited till after she'd been turned, but that seemed too much like tricking her into giving him what he wanted.

Kid punched at the mattress and let out a low groan, and then he began collecting himself. It was like someone had hit a button and turned off his emotions. He needed to be strong. Tsubaki would need it, and Maka too, obviously. He could be cold and indifferent toward reaping, after all that was the way his father had done it for centuries.

He thought about nothing except the young girl on the bed that was trying to comfort him and his voice fell into a soothing rhythm. "It's okay, Pumpkin. I'll never make you reap the soul of anyone you know." Kid reassured.

Maka felt uneasy all the sudden. Kid would try to shelter her from the hard decisions even if she was a Shinigami. He would still be bearing most of the burden alone and that didn't sit well with her.

"No. I want us to share all responsibilities even the painful ones. If you take over the netherworld than I plan on being your hands on earth for the time you're trapped down here. I don't want you to coddle me or make things more difficult for yourself just so you can protect me from the world's evils. I'll take the good with the bad and I will stay at your side. I just worry that you might be taking on responsibilities you don't have to. Patty and Liz feel very strongly; they're against this decision of yours. They told me they didn't believe you were strong enough to maintain everything on your own. They hinted that you might go crazy down here. Have you considered setting back the time frame you've planned before taking over for your dad?"

"I can't do that." Kid proclaimed defiantly "For one thing, If keep living as a mortal like I have been, I might become too greedy and change my mind. Maka, taking over the nether world is not something I really want to do. I struggle with the idea almost constantly. But freeing my father from his depression seems more important to me than my own needs. I just want us to be happy again, to see him smile more. To be a normal family. I want him to move on!"

Kid gave an exasperated sigh. "It's okay, really. I don't think Dad's going to run away and leave me in the netherworld for eternity. I think it might just take him a few years to re-acclimate himself in society. To start acting human again. Of course Dad is unpredictable and I could be stuck down here forever should he not choose to return."

Maka cringed. "That's not an option!"

Kid laughed half heartedly. "I hope so. I know this sounds horrible Maka, but I'm glad things are working out the way they are. I really didn't want to be stuck down here alone."

Maka made an annoyed noise, "How many times do I have to tell you? You don't need to obsess and worry about that anymore. I love you! I'm stuck to you like glue from now on. You can't get rid of me. I'm staying and if you try to run away from me I will club you over the head with a copy of 'War and Peace' and I will drag your ass back."

"Thank you." Kid whispered "Sometimes I just need to hear that. I can't help but worry though. I don't trust my old man in the state he's in. He's not thinking clearly and that makes him unpredictable. There is no balance to the way he's acting right now. He's either manically happy or manically depressed, and his mood is like a rollercoaster. That's no way for a Shinigami to act. We're forces of nature; we have to keep our emotions balanced. "

"So we need to help Shinigami-sama. I'm sure we can cheer him up - just look how happy he was about being able to cook dinner for us." Maka said.

"I've been putting it off but the real fact of the matter is I need to move home. I just haven't found a way of breaking it to the girls. I know Liz is going to hate me, but it's my dad and family comes first. Have you ever thought about how long dad has lived in the netherworld? How long he's suffered here alone with nothing but memories of freedom and my mother?" Kid argued, "How can I leave my father to such a fate forever? Dad wallows alone here, missing my mother, missing me, missing the life he once had. It's why he and Spirit get along so well. He needs to get out, to be able to leave Death City and have some freedom, to not have to suffer so much. His soul has been stretched thin over Death City for too long and it needs time to heal, the same as Tsubaki's father's soul."

"Then you should come back here. I'm sure Liz and Patty will understand" Maka said. She was sure that she and Patty could bring Liz around.

"Speaking of moving home have you thought about your dilemma with Soul yet? What are you going to do? I can't say I really want you going back to your apartment if he's going to be continually putting the make on you."

"Soul's not like that. He'll bounce back - he always does. As you said, he just needs some time to adjust to the idea. I think it sunk in a bit last night. I think he's afraid of losing what the two of us have more than anything. I just have to show him that what you and I have doesn't change what he and I are to each other."

"I think I need to lay some ground rules with him or the two of us are going to end up trying to clobber one another. I like Soul, I really do. It's just hard for me to remember that when he's all over you or being rude to you. I'll sit him down tonight and have a long chat with him."

Maka felt strangely observant. It was like some great clarity had come to her recently and she was able to see all the things she didn't like about herself. "I don't know if you should do that. Soul runs from his problems. It's one big thing the two of us have in common. We both try to do anything else but deal with stuff. On top of that there's still the Wes issue. Soul thinks he may be dead and that we're not going able to turn his brother back from being a zombie. It hasn't completely sunk in yet, but he's already showing signs of denial."

"I'll wait then. I don't believe in hitting a man while he's down. It's probably hard for him; losing a sibling and the person he's closest to all the same time. I'll wait till he tries something again or he approaches me."

"Thank you, I really appreciate that."

Kid cracked his knuckles and stretched his back "Now about your living situation..."

Maka started to giggle hysterically, "Which living situation? The fact I'm living with Soul or the fact I'm dying and won't be living much longer?"

"How the hell can you laugh about that? You sound like Patty!" Kid smacked his face to wipe the astonishment off it. "Fine. About both living situations, then."

Maka tried to get herself under control and failed miserably, "What do you think I should do?"

"I want you to stay down here in the Never After for as much as you possibly can. You can come and go as you like but if you stay down here it would solve three big problems." Kid held up his hands and began to count them off.

"One: The Grand Design can't seek you out down here so we won't have to worry about protecting you during the night or when I can't be around you because of a reap or other Shinigami business. Two: it will stop Soul from pawing all over you and give him some time to get his shit together. I don't think it's good for you two to be right on top of each other while he's trying to get over you; it's just too cruel. Three: You could do me a big favor and help keep the old man company. He's already agreed to you staying down here and I think when he saw you come in with me he thought I already had this conversation with you and you agreed to it." Kid's voice became less confident and he nearly whispered the next part "Four: I'd really like you to live with me."

"That was one too many reasons. Kiddo, why did you get all shy on number four?" Maka ribbed Kid and she watched the nervous blush fade away and replaced by one of arrogance.

"You know damn well why. I want you to move in with me. It doesn't have to be here in dad's house, we could build our own place. I mean it's the next logical step, we're engaged and you might not be able to put up with me after you've lived with me for a while."

"What about Patty and Liz - what about Soul?" Maka questioned.

Kid watched Maka's face as she gave the idea some serious thought.

"Well give them a mirror in the foyer so they can come ago as they please. I doubt we'll see Liz step a foot into the Never After though. Something tells me Tsubaki might have some reservations too."

"I think it would be a good idea if we asked Shinigami-sama what to do."

Maka nudged Kid a little before pulling him out of bed, trying to distract him from his darkened mood. "Come on get dressed, we can't lay around here all day. On top of that I'm hungry; we need to go get something to eat."

"I need a shower first." Kid replied. "I was getting ready to do that before you dragged me back to bed."

"Like you minded being dragged back to bed. What time is it anyway?"

Maka looked over at the large grandfather clock in the corner and noticed that the pendulum had stopped mid-swing. That couldn't be right, could it? How could it stay suspended like that? Isn't gravity a constant here? She examined the clock, which told her it was three in the morning. She tapped on the glass to see if the clock was broken while Kid flipped on the TV again. The screen was frozen in place. Maka noticed Return of the King was still on. Frodo had just thrown the ring into the pit and Golem hung in mid air trying to catch it.

"What's going on?" Maka asked.

"What I told you could happen; Dad's stopped time. We're unaffected because we're here. Clocks and electronics aren't immune, though"

Maka slid on a nightshirt and a pair of violet panties and Kid reluctantly slid on a bathrobe and followed Maka as she led the way into the bathroom. She stopped dead in her tracks in front of the door and Kid plowed into her.

"Does that mean Lord Death isn't going to let us leave the netherworld?" Maka asked, sounding frightened.

"Not for a while at least. Good thing is we won't be late for school." Kid explained popping a crooked grin on his face. He darted past Maka quickly and closed the door in her face because he was suddenly shy about sharing his morning bathroom routines.

Maka let out a surprised yelp from the other side of the door and Kid figured he had only minutes before she burst in and knocked him senseless.

Like the bedroom, the bathroom was antique Victorian. The toilet was retrofitted with plumbing but Kid couldn't help but think that the painted motif on the thing was horribly ugly.

"Who wants flower and birds on a toilet? Where does Dad get some of this crap?" he wondered aloud, feeling like the little birds were staring at him.

Kid looked over the room for a shower and found none. Only a deep retro-fitted clawed tub and a wash basin sat in the room. Kid sighed and turned on the hot water. He grabbed the pitcher and the basin and set it next to the tub. He heard movement from outside the door and a soft rap followed it.

"You can come in now Maka."

Maka peeked around the door with a twisted look on her face. "That was rude! You nearly hit me in the face." Her tone immediately changed when she saw Kid sitting in the tub, naked again.

"I have to use the bathroom." Maka said shyly, suddenly understanding Kid's awkwardness.

"The water closet is behind that door." Kid said pointing to the room that held the floral toilet. Maka padded across the floor lightly and shut herself in the little room.

"What the hell is wrong with this toilet – where's the handle?" Maka called.

Kid couldn't help chuckling, "The handle is the string hanging from the tank on the wall."

Kid heard a few little curse words and the toilet flushed. He snickered again as Maka walked out of the water closet.

"What's wrong, those little birdies on the toilet piss you off?"

"That is the most ridiculous looking toilet I've ever seen! It's bad enough they're on the outside, but peeing on the petunias and bluebirds in the bowl is really freaky. What's wrong with plain old white? "

"I agree," Kid snorted. "No shower in here either. It's okay to have antiques but they don't belong in a bathroom."

Maka leaned over the tub and trailed her hand in the water. She gave Kid a shy, goofy grin. "Do you want me to wash your back for you?"

Kid blushed a bit and leaned forward. "I got a better idea!" He pinched Maka's butt and when she leapt up he dragged her into the tub with him, clothes and all. Maka wasn't quite as tall as he was and the hot water rose to the top of her shoulders and half way up her neck.

"You...you could have waited for me to take my clothes off first!" Maka pouted smacking at the water.

Kid began undoing the buttons on her wet nightshirt and Maka leaned against his chest.

"I can't tell you how happy you've made me," he said, "I didn't mean to snap at you and go all dark on you earlier. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be this happy. That I would have a chance with you."

Maka slid her hands down Kid's thighs and raised herself out of the water. She removed the shirt and her wet panties and hung them over the raised faucet. She slid around so she was facing Kid and kissed his lips.

Kid returned the kiss and ran his wet hands through Maka's light hair. "How are you feeling? Are you hurting?"

"No not really." Maka shrugged.

She reached up and captured Kid's lips again, and he adjusted himself in the tub so that he could wrap his arms around her waist. Maka relaxed against his body and turned sideways so she could look at Kid and still stay beneath the warm water.

"What about you? Do guys get sore?"

"Only my stomach muscles but I think that's because I played a little too rough with you last night. I'm really sorry things got out of hand that way."

"Quit apologizing so much. I should be the one apologizing; you're the one that's black and blue." Maka whispered.

Kid looked down his arms and noticed he was indeed bruised. Maka ran her hands down a deep set of red scratches and bit her lip and Kid shuddered beneath her touch.

"Don't worry, they'll be gone by tonight."

Kid turned Maka's neck to inspect it and noticed she had a nice strawberry-sized hickey on her neck. He rubbed his thumb over his handiwork and blushed.

"Unfortunately yours won't heal as fast as mine. Your father might actually murder me this time."

Maka laughed at that. "As if I'd let him lay a hand on you. I seem to remember somebody saying that they wanted to be my bride. That means you belong to me buddy-boy, and I don't share and play nice when someone messes with my things."

Kid blushed deep scarlet; this new possessive Maka was way too sexy. He'd have to keep a close eye on her to make sure she didn't attract any unwanted advances at school. It dawned on him that she had heard him on the docks in Jamaica when he'd thought she was asleep. Maka looked at him with a cat-like expression. She snuggled into his body leaving another kiss against his neck and then picked up the pitcher from the water basin. She filled it up under the tub's faucet and turned back toward Kid.

"Lean down I'm going to wash your hair."

Kid blushed again and did as he was told. Maka kneeled up in the tub and he caught a glimpse of her breasts. His breath hitched in his throat as he looked at them. She was too perfect, almost like a Venus de' Milo. Kid had always been attracted to balanced things and Maka was just that, her perfect bosom was evenly set against her lean waist. He watched the curve of her hips rise from the water and he felt the pitcher's water splash down on his head. Maka ran her lithe little fingers through his hair, massaging in some sort of shampoo that smelled like pomegranates and nectarines. It was too fruity-smelling for a guy but he didn't protest.

"God I love your hair, I wish mine was this thick and pretty."

Kid looked up, amazed. The bane of his existence was being complimented. He wondered If Maka was being sincere and tested it out through the resonance the two of them shared. I'll be damned, she means it.

"Don't you think the stupid striped are a little weird? Patty called me 'zebra-bro' for a month after she met me."

"I think they're cool. Do you realize people would pay for a look like this in the big city? Besides your father has striped hair too, I don't see why you would think it's weird."

"Yes, but dad's halos his whole head! Mine are just asymmetrical garbage. It looks like someone tried to do some freaky punk thing, realized it looked like shit and quit halfway through."

Maka dumped a pitcher of cold water over his head to wash out the soap and began giggling.

"Jeeze that's cold!" Kid complained and covered his chest with his arms.

Maka pulled him back by his hair roughly so he would look her in the eyes. "I think it's pretty, better than dish water blond that either knots, frizzes, or hangs there limply. Your hair is thick and beautiful you never even have a strand out of place and frankly I think it's just plain cool."

"God I love it when you play rough."

"Yeah, I've noticed, "Maka answered with an embarrassed laugh."You've been reading too many Anita Blake books."

"I could deal with my own personal Anita Blake."

"In your dreams! You're not getting laid that damn much!"

"I'm probably the only guy at Shibusen that got laid by his fiancée before coming to school." Kid announced giddily.

Maka splashed him. "You'd better not go bragging and tell anyone. If that idiot Ox hears he'll tell Kim and then all the girls will start thinking I'm a slut!"

"What do you take me for? I'm not going to tell a soul. Besides I'm more worried about what will happen if your Dad finds out. He can be kind of scary even to someone like me."

"You give my Papa too much credit; he's just as dumb at figuring things out about people as I am."

"You are anything but dumb Maka. You're the most intelligent woman I know."

"I don't know about that. I feel pretty clueless most of the time. Pretty backward too. I'm a bad judge of character; I can't tell how people feel except when I cheat and use resonance. I have no clue how I'm going to learn everything there is to know about being a Shinigami."

Kid kissed Maka pulling her back down into the water so that her chest crushed against his. It was a pretty awkward move and Maka nearly went under the water in high backed clawed tub.

"God this tub is too deep don't they realize that people could drown in this thing!"

Kid laughed again at Maka's discomfort. "We ought to get out of here before we shrivel up."

"What? No, I haven't washed your back yet."

Kid flipped Maka a smile and handed her a natural sponge. He was enjoying the royal treatment and all the special attention. Maka seemed to have cast off her shyness and opened up to him completely. It felt good to be able to talk to her this way, to touch her and be so open. Everything felt more or less like a dream - it was just too perfect.

Maka ran the sponge over Kid's back and chest before playfully reaching down in the water to wash other things which made Kid jump in surprise.

"Oi! What are you doing? Do we need to go back to bed?"

"No" Maka purred happily. She loved touching him; feeling him this close to her was great. With Kid there were no ulterior motives, no unhappy surprises. He was so open compared to somebody else she knew. Maka tried not to think of Soul though. She had made her choice, and she believed it to be the correct one. She just hoped Soul would learn to accept it and not stay mad at her for too long.

She shook her hair vehemently to rid her mind of him and Kid snapped a lock from the air and gazed at the blond tresses lovingly. She was surprised to see him kiss it gently. He spread her hair out, letting it fall between his fingertips.

"My turn. I think you've had enough fun with the sponge for now. Besides you keep washing me down there and I might just have to take you again."

Maka blushed. Even though they had slept together the night before she wasn't used to the dirty talk. She enjoyed seeing Kid so confident and assertive; it wasn't something she had witnessed often. Usually he just stood back and tried to go along with what everyone else wanted. She felt the sponge graze across her back before he squeezed out the water and it foamed against her neck and chest. He decided to get her back and pushed the sponge between her thighs, stroking her before abruptly handing her the washing pitcher to fill. Maka made a tiny frustrated noise.

"This would have been more fun if we'd been able to shower together. The tub's so deep I can't even see your body," Kid complained.

"Didn't you get a good enough look at it last night?" Maka questioned as she filled up the water pitcher for a third time.

"No. I never get tired of looking at you. If I had my way I'd paint you naked and have your portrait hanging in my bedroom so I could look at it every day. And I don't mean that to be perverted so don't go smacking me... I just think you're that beautiful."

Kid slid his hands down over Maka's breasts.

"You are the most stunning creature in the whole world; you really are like a piece of art."

The things you say...you sound like a nobleman from one of those period romance novel. I'd be careful talking like that in front of our friends. I think they might make fun of you even though I know you're being sincere. "

"I can't help it though, I love you and I just want to spout poetry about pretty flowery things."

Maka giggled and kissed Kid on the neck. "You know, its okay when it's just us, I don't mind. But I don't want Black Star ripping into you because you say romantic things. I might end up beating him senseless if he started to lean in on you."

"My knight in shining armor. You do know I can take care of myself, I've been able to fend off Black Star by myself before." Kid said sarcastically

"Have you noticed how much he's changed lately? I really don't know what's got into him. He's usually completely immature and now suddenly he's giving me advice." Maka mused

"About that...You know, I wouldn't go listening to much of his advice, he has his own ulterior motives."

Maka began shrieking with laughter, "Black Star! He doesn't even know how to spell 'ulterior motive'. Yeah he's acting more grown up but I don't think he's capable of scheming."

Kid felt slightly jealous all the sudden. He wet down Maka's hair, watching the blond strands turn to brown as he covered it in water. He began lathering Maka's hair till it foamed. He decided that Maka had way too much faith in Black Star for reasons he didn't understand. Hadn't they been rivals? Had he misunderstood that? He decided to be blunt and say what was on his mind. "What exactly was your former relationship with Black Star? I know you were childhood friends but were you two ever anything more?"

"How did you know?" Maka sounded surprised

Kid felt his stomach drop; that was the answer he was afraid of.

"Professor Sid use to babysit me when Mom and Dad got into screaming matches and started throwing stuff at one another. For some reason he always knew when to show up. I had dinner at Sid's a lot growing up and Black Star was Sid's ward. I think he took Black Star in out of guilt for what he had done to White Star. But I'm getting off topic though. Kind of funny actually, Black Star was a year older than me but he always chose to stay by me and play with me. Other kids always gravitated to Black Star - he had such a big personality it was hard to ignore him. He used to be really angry at the world, and he had a habit of taking it out on the boys he made friends with but he was never like that with me. He knew how nasty my mom and dad got with one another and he sort of decided to be my protector.

He actually started making plans to run away so that I wouldn't have to live at home any more. He packed sandwiches and my luggage, and bag full of his things. I think we got about four blocks before I started crying and we had to go back to Sid's."

Maka buckled over with laughter. "You wouldn't have liked me back then I was a real cry baby. Completely weak and useless. Black Star helped me change that though. He was tough, real tough, and he would beat up anyone that so much as looked at me wrong. I used to idolize him for that and I followed him around like a puppy. The fact he was a real live ninja made him even better. I had a romanticized view of what ninjas were from anime. And since we'd left Japan and all my friends from back home I clung to my culture and things that were familiar to me. Black Star was the only other Japanese kid in Death City at the time and he spoke fluent Japanese and English. Well anyway, Black Star talked a big game and I use to believe everything he said. He was like a big brother."

"When Black Star said he was going to join the DWMA, I decided I would too. We trained together for the academy but Black Star went a year before I could. I expected Black Star to be some great ninja and to be top of his class in the academy; instead the jerk off screwed around too much and failed. When he got held back it was a huge let down for me but it didn't seem like he cared at all. In the end all that boasting he does is just to compensate for his insecurity. When I entered the academy myself and saw how easy the classes were I was even more disappointed. I became disillusioned with my childhood hero and we grew apart."

Kid rinsed out Maka's hair and felt slightly relieved; he'd expected that Black Star might have been her first crush, not her childhood hero. He rose from the tub and grabbed a handful of towels. Maka took two of them, wrapping one around her body and the other around her wet hair.

"You know what pisses me off about Black Star? It's like he doesn't care. I mean, what kind of guy studies hard for a test but still manages to miss every damn question?"

"A guy who is trying to fail on purpose." Kid answered automatically.

"Oh jeeze I hope not, I don't want him bringing Tsubaki down. She's an amazing person and unlike Black Star, Tsubaki tries her best."

Kid was sure that the real reason Black Star got held back wasn't because of the idiocy he always played at. It obvious that he'd wanted to wait for Maka to catch up. He had been worrying about Soul and his feelings the whole time and hadn't really considered Black Star as much of a threat. Maybe he would need to sit down with Black Star too. It certainly wouldn't be hard to pry information out of him. Kid could read Black Star like a book. Or maybe he was just being too damned insecure and paranoid.

"Well what are we going to do considering its three o' clock in the morning and we're wide awake and freshly bathed?" Maka asked as they brushed their teeth.

"Well we could go down to breakfast. You said you were hungry before. Dad is probably down there messing around with something. We should go see."

"Maybe we could catch the tanuki! I've always wanted to see one before. Is it true that certain parts of their anatomy are grossly exaggerated?"

"No they don't play the drums on their testicles if that's what you're asking." Kid said, laughing. He rolled the words over in his head again and began laughing harder at the image. To the Japanese, a tanuki was a mischievous kami that looked like a raccoon and played pranks on travelers and clubbed them using their huge gonads as a weapon. Hadn't he heard a nursery rhyme once about tanukis' huge genitalia? Thinking about the grossly disproportionate anatomy began to raise his OCPD. I don't know if what I told Maka was right. What if the ball drumming is some kind of Tanuki mating ritual or how they call their kids home? Kid's brain began running out of control. Are their balls really big enough to use as weapons? Oh shit, I'm going to have to check to make sure. If they're that damn disproportionate maybe I'll cast them out of the netherworld and they can all go live with the fairies!

Kid clutched his head and began a downward spiral. "After breakfast we're going to go hunt down and trap that tanuki." He declared striking a pose. "I've got to know if what I told you was right."

Maka began sliding clothes out of her overnight bag and Kid watched fascinated. There was something graceful about the way she dressed. He watched her wiggle into her bra and a pair of Hello Kitty bikini panties. She pulled a pair of black tights over her feet and gently rolling the stockings up her legs. After snapping the waist band of the tights over her panties she slid on another frilly slip. This one was less exotic than the one she'd worn last night; it was a solid color and had less lace. In between her breasts were a small pink ribbon and a rosette. She shook out her Spartoi uniform and buttoned herself into the blue skirt and white sailor blouse that reminded him so much of Sailor Moon.

Kid grabbed the blue pants, heavily-cuffed white button down shirt and black tie that were the male version of the Spartoi uniform. He watched Maka pull her collar up to hide the hickey on her neck and adjust the red kerchief around her neck to hold it in place. She shrugged into her white trench coat and its' tails seemed to bounce as Maka moved to the looking glass they'd entered through last night. She started applying a light coat of lip-gloss and eyeliner before she began questioning him again. "I thought you saw the tanuki at the back door, though. If it's tame, it's probably still sitting there."

"Well, we'll still have to catch it to see if it drums on its' giant balls." Kid laughed heartily as the words left his mouth. "To be honest I've only thought of them as another spirit animal that helps us collect souls, I can't say I've even paid attention to them before till you mentioned it. It was just something like a squirrel here in the netherworld; just part of the scenery." Kid watched Maka put her hair into perfectly symmetrical pigtails with a practiced motion and felt a pang of lust. Those pigtails would look great swinging against her breasts while I -

"I heard they can talk and turn into stuff, I wonder if that's true?" Maka's voice interrupted his fantasy.

"I've heard that rumor too." Kid admitted. Why had he never bothered to check on this before? It wasn't like there was a crap load of animals living in the Never After, only ravens and a couple of spirit animals. Then it hit him: this kind of thing hadn't interested him when he was young because he was too busy worrying about other things. Like not having friends, and being scared, and trying to deal with his conflicting views of his mother. Now that Maka was here he was able to see the world through whole new eyes. Maka saw the Never After as mysterious and interesting, whereas Kid had found it boring and never ending. He understood better than ever why his father like being around new people so much. The world was a different place when experiencing it with someone who wasn't seeing things through jaded eyes.

Kid nuzzled Maka's shoulder before yanking on his white leather jacket and leading her down the hall. "You sure I can't call you odango with those blond pigtails and that uniform? You certainly do look like Sailor Moon. "

"No." Maka complained. She pulled on his tie with her fingertips and reached up on her tip toes for a kiss.

"What about Hello Kitty!" Kid said slyly, patting Maka on the rear.

"You're being bad, you need to behave yourself."

"I'm not the one wearing Underoos."

"Maka burst out laughing, "I'll have you know they came from the women's section!"

"So they're adult Underoos." Kid teased.

"You certainly didn't mind what I was wearing last night."

"Yeah that just tells me that I need to send Blair shopping for you more often. I think I'll buy her a big fish the next time I see her."

"You do know that she'll start hanging on you like she does to Soul. That's why Blair started living with us in the first place. Soul stupidly fed her and now we can't get her to leave. So how does one catch a tanuki?"

"I'm not sure; we'll have to figure that out." Kid answered, walking into the breakfast room. As he'd expected Death was awake. He was standing around in an old robe over pair of ducky boxer shorts and a grey wife beater. He was unshaven again too. Kid covered Maka's eyes with his hand as Death scratched his rear.

"Good god Dad! You know we have company and you come out looking like that?"

Death poured a beer over a bowel of Captain Crunch cereal and sat down unhappily.

"Have you seen your mother lately?"

"No, of course not…oh crap you've finally lost it haven't you?" Kid left Maka's side, darted to the end of the table and shook Death a few good times.

"Mom's gone, Dad. She's not coming back, she abandoned us."

"I...I know that," Death stuttered, "but I felt her the other night when you stayed over and I felt her again last night. She was clawing at the netherworld, trying to get back in. I didn't know what to do so I chased her back with a bolt of lightning and pulled up a barrier."

Kid looked into his father's eyes. "Are you sure you didn't just imagine it? Why the hell would Mom be coming here? I mean, we haven't seen her since I was ten years old!"

Death shook his head. "I know what I felt. It was real. I knew you would react this way and I know you don't want to see her like I do."

"Is that's why there's a thunderstorm outside?" Kid asked coolly.

"Should I let her in? What if she's coming home to us? What if she's realized what she did was wrong?" Death shook violently. "I don't know what to do."

Maka came down the end of the table and pried Kid's fingers off his father's robe. "Calm down, Kid. Go sit down. What do you want to do Shinigami-sama; do you want to see her?"

"Absolutely not." Kid objected.

Lord Death shook his head. "I want to see her but not as an adversary. If she's gotten worse I don't know how I'll feel."

Maka emptied the cereal and the beer can into the trash can, and turned back to Death. She pulled Death's robe around him and fastened the tie about his waist snugly.

"Obviously you don't want to look like this in front of her. It's best not to show weakness right?"

"Yes." Death answered quietly.

"I'll go get him cleaned up." Kid said, exasperated.

"You don't have to see her, but one way or another it will be best if you didn't look weak and broken. Especially if she's our enemy. We don't want her using your emotions to manipulate you."

Death nodded again. "I don't think I'm ready to see her. No, I know I'm not ready to see her. I'm angry. I might kill her accidently."

"That would be a good thing." Kid added snidely.

"Don't talk about your mother that way, Kiddo. It's my fault she left us. I just didn't let her have enough space and time out of the netherworld."

"That is not why she left. She left because she got her jollies on by reaping people in horrible ways. This is not about you and her. It's about mom being a murderous bitch."

Death looked up surprised. "I didn't know you knew about that."

"How could I not know? She used to take me on her insane reaps when I was just a little kid. She'd go from being a good mom to being a violent murderer and I was scared shitless wondering if she was going to turn on me when we were alone."

Maka stared at Kid in horror. And I complain about how bad I have it with my parents? No wonder Kid needs to control his environment so badly.

Death shuddered," I know, I know; she does bad things but I still love her."

Kid just shook his head and started to lead his father from the room.

A voice called out from the door to the kitchen, "I'll take care of him, and you two kids sit down. I'll have one of the maids bring you some breakfast."

Reginald came in, in his familiar tweed smoking suit. He pushed Lord Death out of his chair and helped him stagger up.

"I'm not hungry." Kid sulked.

Maka punched him in the shoulder. "Eat something, and quit being so rude to your father."

Kid cried out sarcastically. "That's rich...You're always being rude to yours."

"I know, I know, I'm working on it. Because you asked me to, remember? I can't help that I like your dad better than mine though."

Death looked back over his shoulder as Reginald ushered him out and smiled widely. He wanted to say something but he caught Kid's eyes and decided not to. At least some one likes me. He thought to himself. Even if his son thought he was a pain in the ass, the Albarn family enjoyed his company. Maka was a great deal like her father, though Lord Death would never tell her that to her face. Maka was caring, gentle and a hard worker. At times Lord Death thought she tried too hard, but he knew that was because she was trying to fill the big shoes her mother had left behind.

Death Scythe was one hell of a fighter; he also was one hell of a friend. He was the only person Lord Death entirely trusted other than his son. Maybe I should call Spirit over today. He'll help me figure out what I want to do about Belle. It might be good for him to see Kid and Maka getting along so well, too. It would probably ease his nerves a bit to see them playing and acting like kids after they shocked him with all that news about dying and marriage.

Death made up his mind. He would do just that. "It's okay, Reginald, I don't need you to baby sit me while I get cleaned up. Try to go smooth things over with the kids and assure them that everything's alright. Keep an eye on Kiddo – you know how he can get when he's upset."

Reginald's walrus mustache twitched. "Yes, Sir."

"Yes, I'll have breakfast with them properly. I don't want to make too much of an ass out of myself in front of my sons future bride."

"Future bride, Sir? Isn't that Albarn's daughter?"

"Yes, she may be spending a lot more time down here. Kid's going to be taking over for a while, he's planning on getting married to Miss Albarn and I've already given him consent to turn her into a Shinigami."

"If she is anything like her father I'm sure you've made a good decision. She seems like a sweet girl even if she is a bit brash."

"Modern children are like that, you haven't seen what they're like up above lately. I think if you met some of their friends you would be thankful you're down here with me. Kids have changed over the years; they're more violent, more competitive, and most of them don't respect anything or anyone. Hell most children today would have been considered hoodlums and criminals in your era. They have no imagination and hardly ever play make-believe because their toys do it all for them. I have a hypothesis about why they're like that, though. I think kids today get stressed out because everyone forces them to be little adults instead of letting them play like kids; and because they can't handle it they get into trouble and do bad things."

Reginald seemed satisfied with that answer. He ran his hand through his brown hair and dandruff went flying. "Glad I didn't have any offspring of my own. I should be upset to know my grandchild or great grandchild was acting like a right arse." Reginald's Victorian speech pattern began creeping out as he spoke.

"Can you do me a favor Reginald? Can you bring Spirit to me? I would like him to see the kids getting along and playing, I think it will settle his nerves about this whole marriage crisis..."

"Do you mean your marriage or your sons?" Reginald asked archly.

Death didn't bother to answer, he began flinging off his clothes and stepped into an extremely modern bathroom and Reginald took his leave. He grabbed a remote and the shower came on and the soundtrack from Carmen came blasting through the speakers in the granite bathroom. He sang along with the lyrics in Italian and stepped under the waterfall shower head.

Ah, modern conveniences are so nice! Death thought.

He looked at a porcelain tile and his eyebrow twitched. He had laid all the tile in the bathroom himself; a home improvement project he had completed to pass away the hours. But some of the tiles were not perfectly symmetrical; some of the craftsmanship looked shoddy to him. He would ask Mrs. Winchester what she thought of it. Wasn't she involved in some massive renovation project when she was alive?

He settled in on cleaning, being blasted from every angle by eight different shower heads. Good thing he hadn't told Kid about this recent edition or he would never get his son out of here, he snickered to himself at the end of track of Entr'acte to Act III. I finally might get some company down here and then all the suddenly my wife shows up, something is fishy.

Death began counting off the number of people who had been attacked. Soul's brother, Kilik's aunt, Kim Diehl's sister, Tsubaki's father, Faia's and Sanda's mother, Harvar's brother, Ox's sister. Every one of them was a close relative of a Spartoi member.

That leaves Black Star and Kami, no - Maka's mother has probably been turned; according to the intelligence we have collected. That just leaves Black Star. Death thought about Black Star and his living arrangements. The closest people to Black Star are Tsubaki, Sid, and Dr. Stein whether he realizes it or not. That means they could be in real danger.

The wheels in Death's mind began turning. If their enemies knew Black Star well they would target Sid or Tsubaki. But if they were going to attack Tsubaki why would they have taken the time to go after her father? That doesn't make sense. That means they could only go after Sid or Stein. I doubt Black Star would be too heartbroken over Stein, but depending on how well informed the master manipulator is, it could still leave Stein as a target.

Death's protective magic sprang outward. He placed extra wards on Stein, Tsubaki and Sid. His eyes glowed cherry red as power leaked out from him everywhere.

"No one touches my students and lives, not even my dear wife!" Death's voice cracked and he gave a maniacal cackle. The death wards he had placed on the three potential victims were massive. He had created a series of traps that would trigger the Grand Design should anyone touch them negatively.

Kid strolled into the bathroom, "You losing it? Do I need to be worried?"

"No I'm just fine!" Death called sweetly.

Kid looked at the fixtures in the bathroom and his eyes went wide. "You've been holding out on me old man, you didn't tell me you had this!" Kid flung his hand around, indicating the modern spa-like fixtures.

"Oops." Death said jovially.

"Why are you doing the evil maniac laugh this early in the morning? Did you just kill someone or did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"Oh I didn't kill anyone. Yet." Death purred. He grabbed a heavy white towel and began to dry off.

"Where is Maka? You didn't bring her in here, did you?"

"She's at the breakfast table waiting for you. She's giving Mrs. Winchester the third degree. I didn't know she was famous. You got any other famous spooks around here she might be interested in meeting?"

"Well, Ehrich Weiss, the grounds keeper. He used to be a circus performer of some sort. A magician too. I'm warning you, he's like Winchester, he loves being a ghost, and he likes to talk about his life. He's just too much of a showman, if you ask me."

"Ehrich Weiss! Hey, he showed me how to get out of handcuffs. He bought me that cool lock pick set when I was nine. I like him. Maka will too, maybe she's heard of him. What was that name he used to go by?"

"Harry something...I can't remember all the details of everyone down here." Death knocked on his head, "The old noggin isn't as good as it use to be."

Kid leaned against the door looking down at the remote that ran the bathroom. "So are you coming or should we start breakfast without you?"

"I'm coming! By the way I'm bringing Spirit over. We're going to discuss matters while you kids play."

"Dad I'm nearly seventeen and Maka is sixteen. We don't go out and play."

Death shook his hand dismissively at Kid. "I don't care what you call it: shooting the breeze, hanging out, chilling, whatever. After breakfast you two go do it…wait let me rephrase that, don't go do 'IT'…just go play. I want no arguments between you and Spirit so no sparking with Maka while he's around."

Kid rolled his eyes, embarrassed, "I hate it when you mix euphemisms from different centuries."

Kid followed his now-dressed father down the hall. He watched as his father's robes emerged from smoky blackness and settled around him.

"So what did Mrs. Winchester make us for breakfast?"

"Loco Moco and some other stuff. Maka is following her around like a little duck. It's actually pretty cute to watch."

Death nodded happily. He couldn't eat with his gloves and mask on and made a mental note to put them on after breakfast.

"How are you going to get Spirit here considering you've stopped time?"

"I sent Reginald out for him. He'll drag Spirit's frozen form into the nearest mirror and then Spirit will fall back into our time synchronicity. Hey! You got those hearse pictures ready?"

Kid laughed, "You sure recovered fast! They're in my pocket."

"Well I figured out a few things during my shower. For one, Sid, Stein and Black Star are in danger but I set up a nice trap around them to catch out would be assassins."

Kid turned the corner back to the breakfast room and found it empty. Maka must still be off with that crazy old woman.

Death grabbed a box from the sideboard and began tossing out car magazines and literature. I know you think the hearse is cool but at least consider some other choices. I've got books on the Tesla, the Jaguar C-X75, the Audi Spyder, Rolls Royce Ghost, Ferrari Grand Turismo…"

Kid looked at the Tesla, a little bit awestruck. "Holy shit, this one is electric and it's faster than a Porsche."

"It's nice isn't it? You like that pumpkin orange color. I bet you it would be crazy fun to drive. Better than the mule carriages we had when Henry Ford first started building them. I actually had one of the 1908 model T's. Did I ever tell you that? You had to wear gloves when you drove it because it was so prone to breaking down. You'd get oil all over your hands. The soot it left was horrible, you couldn't wear white clothes in it and stay clean. Hey, Maka! Come and look at these and tell me what you think!" Death called.

Maka came, helping Mrs. Winchester carry in the breakfast trays and chattering a mile a minute.

"Well I think it was wrong for that fortune teller to tell you all that stuff."

Mrs. Winchester nodded her head and laid the platter down. "No matter now, I'm much happier as a ghost than I ever was in real life."

Maka shook her head amazed and looked to Lord Death. "Did you call me, sir?"

Lord Death cringed hearing the 'sir'. "Uh-yes everything is fine now. Can you tell me which one of these cars catches your eye the most?"

Maka looked at Lord Death. He was calm and composed now; he'd done a complete one-eighty from his emotional state of a half -hour ago. She thumbed through the booklets and noticed that most of them were high powered sports cars. Kid was reading a brochure with another funny-looking sports car on the cover. A couple of the photos strewn about the table caught her eye.

"What am I suppose to be doing exactly?" she asked.

Kid piped up. "Dad this thing says the Tesla roadster can hit 60 mph in 3.7 seconds."

Kid reached over to the trays and took one of the loco moco plates and a side of bacon. "It's totally electric too- 0% emissions."

"Is that good?" Maka asked." I know that 0% emissions are good, but is that type of speed normal for a car?"

Death began laughing and patted Maka on the head. "It's extremely good! It means it's an environmentally conscious hot rod. Which is something of an oxymoron in car speak. Only thing you need to do is pick which cars you like. Kid and I have a little bit of a wager going on. We want to see what you like."

Maka looked at the table again and picked up a Polaroid of a painted hearse. She chewed on her breakfast which, weirdly enough was something her grandmother use to make her for dinner. "This is unique", Maka ventured, pointing her fork at the Polaroid. I like these too, though. She gestured a powder blue Volkswagen bug with a white drop top and a pearl white Toyota Prius.

"Is this for you?" Maka asked Kid suspiciously.

"Yes. I'm looking at all my options. Ok the Tesla roadster is going in the keep pile." Kid said looking over at Maka's choices. He cringed at the white Toyota Prius on the top of Maka's pile. Death peeked over and laughed.

"Looks like economy cars are Maka's taste."

"No, not entirely, I just like the color," Maka said between gulps of orange juice, "I really like the Beetle, but this hearse is amazing too. I can't imagine how much something like that would cost. The cemetery painted on the side reminds me of the one in town. "

Death picked up the Volkswagen brochure and cursed." Powder blue...why the hell have they brought back powder blue? These things don't look half as cool without the chrome and then they pick out some retro color like powder blue."

"Didn't Harry Dresden have a blue beetle?" Maka asked Kid.

"Yes he did but it's supposed looked like a multi color quilt from all the repairs it's had." Kid looked at Maka's choices and saw one thing. Girl cars. Every one of them was a girl car. They probably had lipstick holders and vanity mirrors on the back of the seats.

"Okay, the Toyota Prius is out. I'm not driving a chick wagon that goes 'put put put' .

Maka laughed, "It's a hybrid though."

Kid thrust the Tesla roadster brochure in front of Maka and swallowed down the rest of his food.

"Yes, and this is completely electric and can go 125 miles per hour. And it's sexy." Kid gave Maka a suggestive wink. Spirit stumbled into the dining room followed by Reginald. He looked half asleep and a little bit annoyed.

"The world better be ending, Mort. It's three in the morning and your butler just dragged me into the netherworld by my feet."

Reginald snickered a bit and looked at the table. "I'll make you some coffee sir."

Spirit tore his eyes away from Death for a second and noticed there were others in the room. Maka and Kid were both eating breakfast and looking at flyers for cars. Spirit bolted awake at the sight of his daughter and dropped into a chair beside her, scooting it madly so he could get close to her as he possibly could.

"Maka, honey, what are you doing here this late at night?"

"It's three in the morning, technically it's not night anymore, but to answer your question I spent the night here after having dinner with Lord Death." Maka grabbed a spare plate that held a croissant and dropped some of the Loco Moco onto it along with a piece of bacon and put it in front of her dad without asking.

"Mrs. Winchester is it okay if I make a few more things?" Maka hollered back into the kitchen and the ghost appeared in front of her with more food.

"Reginald already told me we have more company."

"You're going to like this Papa it tastes like Grandma Suki's cooking."

Spirit seemed disconcerted that his daughter was discussing his breakfast with a ghost and shook his head. "Sweetie, aren't you scared being down here alone, with the...err..."

"Spook squad?" Kid offered.

"Yes, spook squad." Spirit said thankfully.

"Not really. Hey guess what? Kid and I are going out looking for a tanuki after breakfast. Since Lord Death stopped time, we're going to go see what tanukis really look like up close."

Spirit seemed amused that Maka was so perky and talkative with him. It reminded him of what she was like when she was a little girl; before she became a sassy little hellion.

"That's nice Maka honey." Spirit answered, digging into his food, "Maybe Papa will come see what it looks like too." A loud clap of thunder made him jump in his chair. He looked out the four large windows into the netherworld and noticed the downpour outside.

"Hey Mort… err… I mean Lord Death, what's with the water works?"

Death chuckled, "I've stopped time and I have a few spells up and running about. It can't be helped."

Spirit watched as Shinigami magic filled the sky and shot out like roots in every direction. The netherworld was closed somehow, sealed tight from the inside.

"Something going on, should I be concerned about it?" Spirit asked, all business.

"Yes, but we'll discuss it later when the children go out and play."

"Dad!" Kid whined.

"Okay, when the youngsters go chill."

Kid just shook his head, embarrassed and Spirit snorted in amusement. His hand fell on something slick and he picked up a Polaroid off the table. "What's this?" he asked, looking at a hearse with the custom paint job. He eyed the big engine in the front of the car and the huge exhaust. "Holy crap, talk about cool!" Spirits eyes lit up like he was in love. "This is even better than Justin's car."

Kid perked up. "You think so? I thought so too. I just have to wait for them to finish the upholstery and install the rims and then I can bring it home. Dad thinks it's a little much."

Spirit shook his head. "That's a huge engine. I'm guessing its fast."

Maka shook her head, lost. "You already own this car?"

"Yes. I'm having it restored."

"You mean you're having your ride pimped out." Death corrected.

Maka laughed and Kid cringed. "Dad we don't live in the hood quit talking that way."

Kid rolled through some car talk with Spirit and Maka looked over at Reginald suspiciously, "I've seen you somewhere before."

"Preposterous! I died in 1920, long before you were ever born." Reginald exclaimed as he stroked down his mustache."

"Kid said you were feeding the tanuki. What do tankuis like to eat, exactly?"

"What are you children planning on doing with the Tanuki after you catch it?"

"We just wanted to look at him. I've never seen one before and Kid said he never bothered to look at one up close."

"When I was younger I use to travel the world a great deal. The first time I saw a tanuki was in China; I was studying some trees and found that tanukis had been eating them. Tanukis like many things but they adore juniper berries. Come with me."

Maka followed Reginald into the kitchen, where he unlocked a cabinet and brought down a squat decanter full of clear liquid.

"Here, this should work splendidly!" Maka took the lid off the decanter and sniffed at the contents; it had a pungent aroma of flowers.

"It's gin. I trust you and Kid not to inebriate yourselves."

"Err; won't this be bad for the tanuki?" Maka asked

Reginald laughed. "It's the only way it won't hurt the two of you. Tanukis are wily and they can be rather dangerous. Of all the spirit animals they are the most deceiving. Tanukis look cute and gentle but they can be violent. They're quite fond of alcohol though, and considering this is both alcohol and juniper berries, the tanuki should be putty in your hands."

Mrs. Winchester tapped her foot on the floor. "You children aren't considering going outside in that rain? You'll catch your deaths." Maka stifled a giggle; obviously the irony of the housekeeper's statement was lost on her.

"No they won't!" an unfamiliar voice proclaimed. A round-faced man with curly hair parted down the center came in and handed Maka two long hooded rain slickers and some gardening boots. One of the slickers was already wet, which sent Mrs. Winchester into a tizzy.

"You're dripping water all over the floor, Ehrich Weiss. Go get those wet boots off and quit dirtying my kitchen."

Weiss made a face at her. "What are you going to do, shoot me if I won't?"

Winchester got wide eyed. She began smacking the stocky fellow, shooing him out. "Gypsy! Circus freak! You get out of here vagabond! Go tend the grounds."

"I'll go tend the grounds." Reginald offered happily.

"You know what Lord Death said. You're not supposed to spend too much time in the gardens. He wants you to be around normal people instead of chatting up plants."

"Because this house is just loaded with normal people!" Ehrich said sarcastically, poking his face out of the mudroom adjacent to the kitchen.

"I swear if you weren't dead I would kill you both." Mrs. Winchester proclaimed in a huff. "You send those kids outside and they'll catch pneumonia."

Maka noted that Mrs. Winchester was a tad bit overprotective, after all Kid was a Shinigami and she already knew there was no way to die in the Never After.

"Don't worry little lady, she's just a crazy old bat, she's always like this." Ehrich told her cheerily.

Ehrich was short for a man, about 5'5; an inch shorter than Maka, and he spoke with a kind of loud ringmaster's voice. Maybe he was a carnival barker his last life, Maka mused.

"Would you like to see a magic trick little lady?" he asked.

Mrs. Winchester gave a disgusted snort. "Magic! Is that all you can think about? No wonder you're a Hungry Ghost. You're never going to get out of here unless you can find something else to live for. The Grim Reaper says..."

Mrs. Winchester was cut off as Mr. Weiss slapped a pair of tiny handcuffs around her fingers. The gray haired old woman gawked at the handcuffs, becoming even more upset as she tried struggled to free her fingers and failed.

Reginald gave a little bit of a snicker. "I see where this going. Good show old man."

"Wiess, so help you, you'd better unlock me at this instance."

Ehrich whistled loudly. "Sorry dear widow, it appears I've lost the key."

Maka watched the exchange, amazed at the sheer audacity of the little man. Finally, with a shriek and a wail Mrs. Winchester stretched out her body, became transparent and disappeared, leaving the thumb cuffs clattering on the floor.

Weiss barked loudly "For my next act I will show you how to make renowned botanist and explorer Reginald Farrer disappear."

"No need to Ehrich, I've got a painting I want to finish and some laundry that I need to get done."

"You were famous in your lifetime too, Mr. Reginald?"

"Only among farmers and green house experts." Reginald sighed.

"He's being modest." Ehrich proclaimed. "About anybody who was anybody is down here."

Maka eyed Ehrich, who puffed himself up. "Certainly you've heard of me!"

"Leave her alone you old blow hard." Death came in accompanied by Kid.

Kid looked a little bit shy, "Hi Ehrich.".

"You been working on your craft, little man?" Ehrich barked loudly.

"A bit but I don't have a lot of time to practice sir."

Ehrich patted Kid on the head lovingly. "You should make time. A good magician always hones his craft. Even if you can do the real thing, you should always use trickery with it. That way people won't know what is real and what is false. It's all part of the illusion. It's like sleight of hand. You work at enough you can convince the audience you can do anything."

"Were you a magician, Mr. Ehrich?" Maka asked.

Ehrich looked Maka the up and down "I was THE magician! An escapist without equal. I can't believe you've never heard of me." Ehrich looked deflated and walked out, miffed.

Death shook his head vehemently, and his skull mask bobbed up and down. "He can't let go of his pride. I swear he's never going to leave the Bardo. Don't worry about him Maka."

"Actually Mr. Wiess is usually a very nice man. He must be having a bad day," Kid defended the gardener.

"You shouldn't encourage him Kiddo. Wiess is still struggling to find his way and I don't want you using his stage name or having him teach you magic anymore. He needs to become less hungry for his former life and lose his fascination with being a ghost."

"I understand." Kid answered, as if he had been scolded, "May Maka and I be excused? We wanted to go look for that tanuki."

"Go ahead," Death said, clapping Kid on the shoulder, "I'll try to calm the rain down but no promises."

"Understood." Maka handed Kid a rain coat and a pair of boots. They were big enough for them to slide their shoes inside and the rain coats flapped down against Maka's ankles and Kid's shins.

"Oh damn, I forgot to ask Reginald what he was feeding it." Kid swore. Maka tugged back the sleeve of raincoat and held up the bottle to Kid.

"Reginald said to use this, that tanukis love gin."

Death and Spirit watched from the door as their children traipsed off through the rain with the thrill of adventure and a bottle of booze.

"He's going to be taking over soon, are you ready for that? Your daughter is planning on being at his side." Death asked quietly.

"I'm trying to adjust to my initial response." Spirit said, sounding angry. "I guess she could do worse; after all he's not a biker or a playboy and he can be downright backwards most of the time so I don't have to worry about him cheating. He's terrified of her so he's not going to hit her, and most likely she'll be wearing the pants in the relationship."

Death shook his head "That's not why I brought you here. I've figured out our enemy's pattern. They're targeting the Spartoi, and the only member left that hasn't been attacked is Black Star. It means they're planning on killing him or someone he holds dear, and that would be Sid, Tsubaki or Stein. Since they took the time to kill Tsubaki's father I think Tsubaki is safe, but I'm not sure about Black Star himself. I've placed wards on three households with a series of deadly traps that will trip the Grand Design if they're attacked. Right now, though I have time stopped. I want to give the magic time to settle in and grow stronger."

"Should I go check on them?"

"I would like you to when I restart time again. I know you're exhausted and judging by the smell of the perfume and booze on you, you've been to the cabaret again. So go find a room and sleep it off first. I want you to be in your top physical form when you go to Black Star's house. I guarantee you they will strike hard and quickly now that they know I'm on to them."

"How would they know that?" Spirit asked baffled.

"Because my wife tried to re-enter the netherworld tonight and I forbade her entry."

Spirit looked at Death shocked. "You expect me to sleep knowing that she's waiting outside soon as you restart time? Wait I've got an idea. If you can sense where their magic is coming from why don't we just keep time on pause? I'll skip over to the lazarus thieves' location and do them all in while they're stuck playing mannequin."

"Soon as you leave the netherworld you will be prone to the same problem. Time is not moving out there, you will become as inanimate as they are at a fixed point in time once you leave here."

Spirit picked at his ear with his finger. "You understand that I didn't get any of that, but I assume you are telling me no." The grim reaper nodded his head at Spirit and tried not to sigh. Spirit was loyal even if he was a tad bit slow.

"What do you want me to do now then?" Spirit asked.

Death looked up reluctantly and spoke the words he was afraid to. "What do you think I should do about Belle Morte? I love her I don't want to kill her, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to. I didn't realize till today that Kiddo knew so much about the atrocities she commits. I've always told myself I wouldn't kill her because she was Kid's mother. She was part of our family and now I hear from my son, that he thinks she's wicked and she deserves to die."

Spirit shook his head. "I know if it were me. I wouldn't be able to kill Kami? The only thing that could push me to do so, was If she was trying to hurt Maka. If she crossed that line than I probably could do so, but I would have to know without a doubt that was what she was trying to do."

"I think Belle Morte checked in on Kiddo the other night. I don't know if she was trying to hurt him or she just wanted to see her son. She left so quick I didn't have time to ask her. I think if she wanted to be here with us, to be a family again she would have stayed and talked to me. I keep hoping she'll come back so I don't have to be alone but I'm beginning to think now that, it's not going to happen."

Spirit shook his head. "I think you need to face facts, maybe we both do our wives aren't coming home. The happy family we dreamed of having has been broken, and were not going to be able to get it back...But maybe our kids are going to give us a new family. A stronger one something that the two of us can be proud of again."

"I hope so." Death whispered.

"Go rest and when you wake up, I'll restart time and you will head to Black Star. I'll send Weiss and Reginald out to grab Stein and Sid and bring them here. I would bring Black Star and Tsubaki here too but it appears they are not at home. I'll have to scan the mirrors and see if I can find out where they are."

Death walked to a room off of his study filled with mirrors. They all flicked on like TV sets and he scanned the images searching for Black Star and Tsubaki but found nothing. Wherever they were, they weren't near anything reflective. He worried that the two of them had disobeyed and gone out for revenge. It's what he would have done at their age. He pushed the mirror glasses father and began watching the still figures of the world move past. He would search the whole planet if he had to.

"Where the hell are you brats?" Death muttered, annoyed.

Little did he know Black Star and Tsubaki were not far away at all. Earlier that evening, Black Star had pushed at the goat with his knees and dragged Tsubaki outside to their fenced-in backyard.

"I know just what will cheer you Tsubaki! Maka cooked us a big dinner. I'll get the plates and you sit here. Well turn on the Christmas lights and have dinner outside under the stars."

Tsubaki forced a gentle smile. She didn't feel like smiling and she didn't feel like eating either, but she couldn't tell Black Star no. She watched as Menace the goat pranced around the yard nipping at insects. The goat had turned out to be aptly named. A real menace, a regular little terrorist compared to every other pet she had ever seen. So far Menace had managed to eat the corner of the sofa, chew up every lamp cord in the house and knock over the altar Tsubaki had been setting up for her father. Menace wandered over and butted her and she shoved it away angrily.

Uncharacteristically, Tsubaki yelled, "You're lucky I'm not in the mood to eat, buddy, or you would be caprine stew right now. I know how to make you into a bento."

The goat stared at Tsubaki with large dark eyes and 'blahed' at her. Tsubaki could have sworn that the goat looked at her defiantly and she thought about running into the kitchen and fetching her stock pot. It turned out Menace wasn't a boy goat at all, it was a girl, and for some reason she only liked and listened to Black Star. That wasn't the only thing that was pissing Tsubaki off though. When the Menace felt like paying attention to the ninja it usually involved some kind of loud, random mayhem.

Being without lights and having her father's altar destroyed by a rampaging goat had nearly sent Tsubaki over the edge. The breaking point had occurred when she went into her bedroom and found that Menace had left a large present right in the center of her freshly changed sheets. Her patience was at its limits. She watched as Black Star stumbled out the screen door to the back patio. He had a large silver lidded pot under his arm and carried plates, forks, silverware and two glasses of Kool-Aid.

At least Tsubaki guessed it was Kool-Aid considering that they couldn't afford to buy any soda this month due to the extra bills the goat was generating. Menace went running to Black Star, ripping and roaring ready to play, and Black Star tripped over her. The Kool-Aid flipped out of Black Stars hand, coating Tsubaki in red and staining her almond dress. She looked up at Black Star angrily but couldn't hold the gaze. Instead she turned her frustration on the goat.

"That does it! Either the goat goes or I do!"

Black Star hopped around madly, trying to dry Tsubaki with a napkin but only managed to rub the Kool-Aid into the fabric.

Black Star began rattling, worried. "I'm sorry Tsubaki! Please don't be mad. It's my fault; I know Menace likes to play and I wasn't paying attention to her. Please don't be angry - I can still turn on the Christmas lights, we can still have dinner. I'll even wash your dress. Maka and Kid showed me how to get stains out. I'm sure I can do it!"

Tsubaki found it impossible to stay angry when Black Star was trying so hard, so she let out a huge sigh. "I don't blame you. I'm going out for a while, I want to be alone." She said glumly.

"Please don't leave Tsubaki! I promise I can fix everything." Black Star pleaded worriedly.

"It's not you; I'm just upset over my Chichi. I'm going to take a walk to cool my head down."

Tsubaki headed out the gate and walked down the street. She turned at the corner and watched the Christmas lights in her backyard flick on.

"He tries so hard to be a good friend." Tsubaki commented aloud.

It had been hard falling in love with Black Star. Tsubaki had started liking Black Star when they went to Japan to tell her father that her brother had finally been slain. Black Star did and said things that could be considered romantic overtures, and that caused confusion in Tsubaki's heart. She knew Black Star had an unrequited love of his own. He talked to her about it regularly, but he said unrequited love was just that - unrequited. He would never tell Maka how he truly felt because he believed he had let her down by failing his first year at the academy. Black Star would silently watch over her and he encouraged his best friend to go out with her even though it secretly ripped him up inside. Tsubaki never confessed how her love for him had sneaked up on her so suddenly. She knew that as long as Black Star was in love with Maka, she had no real future with him. They were friends, and that was all.

Tsubaki felt tears begin to fall and she started running. It didn't matter where she would go; any place was better than here. She picked up the pace and headed down into the business district knowing that she would not be seen. It was pretty empty this time of night. Most people spent time at home or at the casinos and cabarets in the late evening, so the stores closed up around nine.

A hand reached out and grabbed her from behind her. She heard a loud slap against the pavement as arms wrapped around her and pulled her into an alleyway.

"Hey, it's okay! It's just me." a familiar voice said softly.

Tsubaki swung around and found Soul there. He looked kind of worse for wear himself and she wondered if he had been crying too. He hugged onto her tightly, stepping over the pizza box he he'd abandoned on the pavement.

"You were running and crying and you looked like you were covered in blood. I tried hollering at you but you didn't hear me."

Tsubaki shook her head and sent tears scattering in the cool night air. "Its not blood its Kool-aid. Black Star and the Menace dumped it on me."

"And your wrong I...I wasn't crying." Tsubaki said through her tears, "I'm Buddhist were not supposed to grieve near our fallen, but I'm not sure how close or far 'near' really is. I'm not a monk and I don't go to church regularly so I don't have anyone to ask. Normally I would ask Otousan but Otousan is…is...," Tsubaki began bawling in earnest, "Otousan is dead!"

"I knew all that Buddhist shit was just a bunch of bull crap. Who's ever heard of not crying when you lose your dad? You go ahead and cry Tsubaki, go ahead and cry to your heart's content. I don't think it really matters."

Tsubaki felt mildly insulted but her quiet ways didn't allow her to tell Soul that he was wrong. That it had sounded rude. Anyway, she wanted to cry; she wanted to disobey. Everything and everybody could just go to hell right now. She let out a series of hysterical sobs and Soul held her. He slid against the wall and Tsubaki let out a wail of grief. Soul pushed her hair back and kissed her. It wasn't a longing kiss or even a loving one. It was just comforting.

Tsubaki found herself kissing him back. "Please just make the pain go away. I don't care how, just make it go away. I'm tired of feeling empty inside. I can't talk to Black Star, the goat ate the lamps, everything is horrible - just make it go away. "

"I understand," Soul said softly. He kissed Tsubaki's tear-stained face. She caught his lips hungrily and slid her hand down his chest, clutching at him.

Soul broke away from her and began rising.

"I'm sorry." Tsubaki sobbed.

"No don't be sorry. Let's just go back to the apartment. I don't want to get caught loitering in an alley with you crying. Someone will think I'm a mugger."

Tsubaki nodded meekly and picked up the pizza box. "What about Maka?"

"It's through, it's over. Kid won. She's at his place." Soul said shortly.

Tsubaki nodded her sympathies; she didn't really care right now. She just felt empty, and she wanted that emptiness to go away. Her mind and body craved release and she didn't care who gave it to her. She knew she would be sorry tomorrow; that Soul would be sorry too, but damn it to hell why did she always have to be the responsible one? Soul got on his motorcycle, waited for Tsubaki to climb on the seat behind him and took off, speeding down the road just as time stopped.

---

Loved it Hate it hell just show me your not a bot. I don't care If I get the I "read it" comment. At least I know your a real person and not some spider searching the internet. Please Review and don't forget to bookmark us!