Yo, sorry if I make any weird spelling mistakes or something. I write this on mobile so sometimes it doesn't save right.
Asura had surprisingly caught himself as he fell, arms and legs splayed out against the walls of the rectangular hole he'd been dragged into. His hands and feet hurt from being used to skid to a stop before he crashed to the ground below. He was glad he did though, because Soul was right underneath him and he didn't want to fall and hurt the younger boy. So he stayed like that despite the strain it put on his body until the boy stood up and moved out of his way.
Soul, however, was extremely confused. He knew that he'd grabbed something, no someone, before his fall. The albino was fairly sure he knew who it was too, so once he was sitting he looked around him. The boy who called himself Asu was nowhere to be seen, and his confusion increased. He heard Patty laugh and Liz complain. Kid and Black Star were already on their feet so he got to his own. Maka too was trying to stand. "Aie, aie...Anyway, we're all safe, right?"
"1, 2...no, 8?!" Kidd exclaimed, looking alarmed. "I sense eight witches and a demon sword!" It was then that a loud sound rang through the school, startling everyone, Asura included. His foot slipped up and he scrambled to regain his balance, knocking loose some stones that fell onto the albino's head.
While Maka asked what was happening, Soul tilted his head back to look up. His eyes widened slightly as he stared dumbfounded back the way he'd escaped. Glowing red eyes stared right back at him and the other offered a strained smile, so Soul shrugged and mouthed, 'What the fuck Asu?'. Suddenly, Maka was beside him. "Soul what are you..." She trailed off, staring at Asura with the same expression.
Stein, who was about to answer Maka, came over as well curious as to what caught his students attention. He was met with the same sight, but only raised an eyebrow before turning to the two. The rest were gathered, curious as well. "You know he's probably waiting for you guys to move so he can come down." Maka practically jumped out of the way at that, while Soul and Stein took a couple steps back.
Now that he'd been seen, and now that he had room to land, Asura dropped down. He landed in a crouch with one hand on the hood and the cloak and scarves settling around him. The teacher was quick to grab his arm in an iron grip and yank the startled boy to his feet. The shinigami sqeaked in fear and tried to twist his arm free immediately, but he only managed to hurt himself so he gave up. It would probably be easier to listen to what the man said for now.
Soul, though, disagreed. "Hey! Stein-sensei! Let him go, he didn't do anything!"
"No can do Soul. This boy's suspicious. Don't you think it's strange that the night the witches attack us, he shows up here and he's followed the people who escaped?" Soul was silent for a minute before the boy spoke up.
"A-actually...Um, Soul dragged me down...I just wanted to meet his partner he told me about."
Maka glanced at her weapon at that, but he seemed to be avoiding looking at her. Then Stein asked, "How did you get in then? You certainly didn't come through the front door."
"...the roof."
"And what were you doing on the roof?"
"Trying to get inside...?"
For a moment Stein deadpanned at the short answers he was getting. Then he shook his head and asked, "Why were trying to get inside?"
"...to find father..." Asura answered, weakly attempting to pull his arm free again. "Please...I'm no enemy. I've fought the Gorgon sisters before...I-I...I'll help? Just tell me what's happening." Stein considered it for a moment before the boy added, "We don't have much time..."
With a sigh, the scientist relented. "Fine, but make one wrong move and you're dead." Then he let go of the boy and Soul was quick to check if he was okay. "Now then everyone, listen carefully!" All of them were quick to respond, each with varying expressions and a sharp nod.
"The 'Kishin of the first generation', completely insane, is resting in Shibusen's underground. Our good doctor, who is the witch Medusa and as that boy mentioned one of the infamous Gorgon sisters, wants to resurrect it." The man explained.
Asura found himself frozen in place now. The Kishin...did they mean...Vajra? Oh god, oh no, oh no no, no, no, No! He vaguely registered shouts of alarm and, oh god it's hard to breathe. But he couldn't focus on that. Only that Vajra was here, he was here. They were supposed to stop him from reviving, but they were going to fail and Vajra would be back and he'd see him and he'd hurt him and he'd never see the sun again and-
Something hard landed across his face and it took a second to realize that the teacher had hit him. He carefully brought his shaky hand to his stinging cheek and leaned away every so slightly. Behind the man, Soul and his friends were watching him with varying degrees of concern or worry. "Good to have you back. Listen, I know this is scary, but you've taken on pre-kishin before and survived, so think of this as the same thing. You'll be fine, we'll protect you." The teacher's voice was cautious, almost gentle, which shocked him since the man had just slapped him.
"I-is it...true?The Kishin..." Asura watched his brother nod.
"It's to keep it locked away that my father can't leave this place." Kid stated and Asura was somewhat glad to hear it. That meant that his father hadn't actually just left him alone to rot, he had literally been incapable of looking for him.
Then Black Star chimed in, voice tinted with surprise. "What?! The master of all Shinigami can't leave? I just thought he was claustrophobic!"
"...that's not what claustrophobia is, Bushin-san...it's the fear of closed in spaces, or feeling trapped...I have it, so I'd know." Asura corrected the younger boy. "You were thinking of agoraphobia...I think. I have that too."
"Oh, thanks buddy!" The boy stated with a broad grin, and Asura ducked his head to hide the small smile he had from being thanked for such a simple thing. It felt nice.
"Anyway," Stein started, "Let's not waste the chance Sid gave us. I will guide you all to the basement entrance."
(OuO)
The entrance to the basement was dark and Asura could feel the edges of a presence inside, just on the edge of his limited soul perception. No one spoke for a moment, and then it was Stein. "This is the entrance to the basement. The enemy is strong, so from here on out, be ready to face death. You can still leave right now...Are you ready to face your fears? Do you want to follow me or not? That's for your souls to decide."
Asura had decided that he was glad that the others had taken some time to change from their formal wear, not that it made a difference with his brother he noticed. The boy went from one suit to another. But they faced their teacher and Maka exclaimed, "Let's go!" Asura smiled a bit, even more happy to not be alone with the scientist.
Stein smiled, "Hehehe! Good!"
Shinigami could still remember the days after he'd sealed the Kishin away. The days he spent trying to come to terms with the fact that he would never see his little boy again. The guilt from daring to think his son would ever try to become a Kishin. Knowing he'd failed to save him. The Gallows Manor, once home to his warriors and his son, slowly emptied until it was only him left. It was too quiet after that.
Sometimes the shade would think he heard Asura's quiet laugh, or the sound of feet on the cold stone floors. Sometimes he would pass by his son's empty room and hear quiet sniffles, like when Asura first got his own room and he was terrified of being alone in the dark. Sometimes he'd hear Vajra too, chatting animatedly to his Meister about something. Sometimes, it would be one of Asura's strange jokes or a snappy comment he made when he felt brave. It was after he was walking through the door one day and thought he'd seen Asura sitting on the stairs in the foyer waiting for him to return that he stopped going home altogether. The mansion was left to gather dust.
He only went back once a year and he never cleaned it, only Asura's room. The boy wouldn't have liked the mess and he didn't want to leave his son's presents in a messy place. It wasn't until he'd had Kid that he'd actually cleaned the whole place again, Spirit had complained quite loudly about the state of his home and how he couldn't raise a child in such a dusty mess. The nice thing about being the boss, was that he was able to order the Death Scythes to help him clean. They didn't touch Asura's room though, he wouldn't let them.
He remembered cleaning out a few vases and finding odd little trinkets. He'd found the smoothest rock he'd ever seen in one, and a worn through braided bracelet. Later he'd found a white button that looked like it came from Excalibur's clothes. The Death Scythes were confused when he ordered them to pile anything they found hidden on the dining room table, but did so anyways and he put it all into a few boxes that he'd left in Asura's room. He knew it was his son's, the boy hid things he liked in fear of people taking them from him.
With Kid living in the Manor, balance was somewhat restored, and Shinigami felt a little better. Sure sometimes he'd mistake the little boy for his older brother, but it was okay. He still spent a lot of time away from home. And then, the rumors started pouring in of the mystery boy, and everything was wrong again and he wanted it to go back to being right. But it wouldn't be right until he knew if the boy was Asura.
He never expected to see him at the anniversary party, but the minute the shade caught a glimpse of the old black cloak, his old cloak, he knew. He had excused himself and carefully made his way through the crowds to his long lost son, who was trailing after Soul Eater. The boy's soul didn't feel right, like it had a rudimentary version of the witches 'Soul Protect'. It felt human enough to glance over at first, but if one focused, they could see something was off.
And when he realized his son, now frightened by the witches actions, was within range of Sid's resonance he quickened his pace. He had reached out to pull him back, but the boy toppled forwards, thrown of balance when one of the falling students grabbed him in an attempt to stop their own fall. Then Asura was falling. His son had looked back up for just a second and he had seen the red eyes, wide with terror, and the two Lines of Sanzu in his hair that for some reason looked liked eyes.
And then he was gone. Asura had, quite literally, just slipped through his fingers. All Shinigami could do for a long while was stare down at his empty hands. When he came back to his senses, he could see his students trying to escape, and Sid watching him with a curious look. He tried to get out for a short while, but stopped quickly. "Iya? I give up, I give up...This thing has no weakness."
"Shinigami-sama! He heard one of the kids shout. Turning, he saw Kilik, a Meister in Stein's class carrying a mirror. " Here! At least you can escape from here please!"
"A mirror?" He shook his head, watching the boys face drop. "Unfortunately, that's impossible... This space is isolated from the rest of the world. Though this sort of high level magic can only be maintained for an hour or so."
Kilik's shoulders sagged and he muttered, "I...I see..."
"I'm sorry."
The boy sat down cross-legged and threw his hat on the ground angrily. "Shit! Death City was so peaceful, nobody cared about anything!" Next to Kilik sat a girl with pink hair, who nodded in agreement.
"Okay, okay." Shinigami said, stooping down low to pick up the hat. "But that's a good thing no? It means the world is fine." He carefully put the hat back on the boys head then and added, "That's why it's important we keep that peace." To himself he thought, 'The rest depends on them. Please, keep Asura safe until I can get free.'
(OuO)
Sid had collapsed against the wall with a sigh. He'd accidentally gotten Shibusen's mystery kid involved as well, and to top it off, Shinigami had tried to grab the kid to stop his fall. He wondered if the shade knew something about that kid that they didn't. The shade had this feeling of hopelessness about him when he'd failed to catch the boy. The way his boss had stood stalk still for a long time after that just staring at his hands...it was concerning to say the least. Speaking of Shinigami, he had come over to him. "Are you alright Sid?"
"Yes..." He glanced up at his boss, then back to the ground. "I'm sorry... I wish I could have helped you escape too, but this space and this injury..." Sid shook his head. "No, those are just excuses! Please forget what I've said!"
However Shinigami reassured him. "No, no...it's alright. You made the best choice in this situation. Besides, this body can't really handle heroic acts like that."
"This body was dead once," Sid quipped back.
"One more reason then." And they were silent for a while before Shinigami said, "So...Medusa-sensei was a witch..."
"...'soul protect'. Everything will be decided there then." The shade nodded in agreement, and he felt a prick of worry about his eldest again. He hoped Asura would be alright. It was then they noticed that Kilik had approached them again.
"Shinigami-sama..." The boy began, the hesitant look being replaced by a determined one. "Is there no technique that can counter a witch's 'soul protect'?"
"Kilik..."
"Soul Protect. Made by souls, we shouldn't be able to touch it...then, even with their efforts, the witches shouldn't be able to penetrate it, isn't that right?" The boy asked.
Shinigami sighed. "Our battle with the witches started centuries ago... They would always make new spells or curses and to counter that, we need new meisters and weapons. And it's to rival that ability that new techs have been born with the ability to sense souls." The shade explained.
"But then...they are still opposing the 'Soul Protect '. So...we need a new technique." Kilik reasoned.
It was then that Sid spoke up, " A new technique...the Kishin will transform. That leaves no other choice."
Kilik only seemed confused. "The Kishin will transform?"
"Hmm." Shinigami knew this day would eventually come. The day he'd have to tell everyone his biggest secret...or one of them. Might as well go all out now that he knew Asura was alive. He was glad he'd spoke to Kid about this already, it would be easier to keep his cool this time. "I suppose it's useless to hide it now. Eventually what's hidden must be revealed..."
Clapping his hands together, Shinigami loudly exclaimed, "Good, good! Everyone, your attention please!" A murmur spread through the crowd at this, the students curious about what the shade had to say. "There's a Kishin in Shibusen's basement!"
Sid's jaw dropped, obviously floored by the blunt statement. "That's...that's too short..." Shinigami didn't seem to hear him though, as he continued.
"This was from long before Shibusen. There was a man called 'Vajra' and this is his story...Vajra was a human, and a weapon who had once served under me as a warrior. He dressed in a red blazer and black pants, mostly to match his Meister. He was an outwardly friendly person, but he carefully guarded his soul from all but one. His Meister Asura."
"Asura?" One of the kids questioned.
Shinigami nodded. "Yes...you see, Asura was the reason I never noticed Vajra's descent into Madness. Asura was a careful individual, who never seemed to let people close. The only exception to this was Vajra. And Asura was terrified of everything and everyone, his fears caused him to slowly spiral out of control. He'd stopped using Vajra in missions and would take out the enemy on his own. It all seemed to be without reason."
"As it turned out, Asura had been rightfully afraid of using Vajra. He'd never shared his worries but we learned of Vajra's unusual behavior only after it was too late. It seems Vajra had become obsessed with his meister, manipulating Asura into believing we were all against him. That only he could be trusted. One day, I made the mistake of banning Asura and Vajra from missions because of Asura's recklessness. I left with the others to fight, and when we returned the two had vanished without a trace."
"From then on we began getting reports of a man matching Asura's description, but when I finally hunted him down, the culprit turned out to be Vajra. He'd killed his Meister, or so I'd believed for a long time. And when he'd spoke, it was with this deranged obsessive tone, especially when he spoke of Asura."
"Um, excuse me sir!" Someone called out. "Why would he pretend to be Asura?"
The shade shrugged. "I can't say for sure, back then, it seemed rather senseless. Now though, I believe that, instead of killing his Meister, Vajra imprisoned him. Then, by impersonating him, he forced Asura to stay, making him fear being killed because we thought he was a Kishin. And to keep us from searching, he made us believe he had killed Asura. In fact, when we fought he'd tried taunting me by bringing up my failure to protect Asura, yet he'd never explicitly stated that Asura had died. Because I couldn't kill Vajra, as becoming a Kishin made that difficult, I had to seal him away."
"To this day I wonder what drove Vajra's obsession. A twisted sense of duty maybe? Love? The desire to have someone depend on him? If I'm honest, I don't want to know."
"Oh...but then, Asura would be dead now though, wouldn't he?" It was Kilik who'd asked this. "I mean, he was human so it's within reason."
Shinigami shook his head. "I never said Asura was human, now did I? I told you Vajra was human. And I now know for a fact that Asura is alive. Far from well, but we can fix that."
"Um, sir?" Kim asked, thinking back to the boy she'd met the previous day, things were falling into place. The sudden appearances around the world, being able to fight off pre-kishin single-handedly, the way the teachers would linger around groups who talked about the stranger. Shinigami had been keeping tabs on him. It almost made sense. "If Asura wasn't...er, isn't human, what is he then?"
"Huh? I didn't say?" The shade tilted his head to one side. "Sorry, sorry! My mistake! You see, Asura he...he was my son. Kiddo's older brother!" The room fell deadly silent.
Asura was doing his best to keep up with the group, but it was difficult to do. He wasn't surprised though, he had been locked away with no food and constantly suffering from some form of injury or another. Not to mention the lack of room he'd had to do anything. It still felt...bad... He felt like he was dragging them down, that he should just stop. But Stein wouldn't let him, and besides, if he couldn't help in a fight...maybe he could give them some tips on fighting Vajra? God, he hated feeling useless, it reminded him of when he was with the other warriors.
He was back in the Manor again, in his old room. The drapes were pulled shut and there were a few candles lit up around the room for light. A desk to one side, a bed across from that... That's where he was, curled up tight with a blanket over his shoulders and a book balanced on his knees. Across from him, Vajra sat cross-legged, his own book in his lap. They'd been like that for a while so Asura was startled by Vajra's voice.
"Hey Asu~" He'd started, a sad grin on his face. "I...I've been thinking."
Asura's eyes had trail from his book to his partner and friend, curiously eyeing him. "Y-yes Vajra? What...?" The other boy blinked and held one finger up. Asura let him gather his thoughts.
"Um...I didn't know if I should say something, but I heard the other warriors talking..." Vajra paused, seeming hesitant. But he continued anyway. "They were talking about you."
Asura blinked and tilted his head a bit. "Oh...good? Bad?" He didn't say much, but he knew Vajra understood, he always did. Though he hoped his weapon had missed the hopeful tone when he'd said 'good'.
"Bad..." The dark skinned boy replied. "They said you were useless in the last battle. Too hesitant. You didn't try hard enough and they weren't sure if they should bring you to the next. They...called you weak. Pathetic. A sad excuse for a shinigami..." Asura remembered feeling his eyes water, it had always hurt to hear that the others thought so little of him even if it wasn't the first time he'd heard it. He was trying after all, couldn't they see? He couldn't help being scared though...
"Oh..." It was hard to hide the quiver in his voice. He didn't dare ask if his father defended him, not after last time. Asura buried his face in his scarves, trying to hide the tears he knew were coming. Vajra shouldn't have to see him look so weak. He didn't want Vajra to agree with the others after all. It didn't help though, he knew he was shaking and he tried not to make a sound.
The bed shifted and he felt Vajra put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him in closer. "...hey it's okay Asu. You know I would never think of you like that. I think you're very strong you know!"
Carefully lifting his face from the scarves, Asura turned to look at Vajra. His friend was smiling, but for some reason it seemed less like the usual friendly grin and more...victorious? Might be his imagination though, his paranoia was worse lately. Closing his eyes and leaning closer to his long time friend, Asura murmured a soft, "Thank you..."
When Asura opened his eyes again Vajra's face was inches from his. With a mischievous grin the other boy patted his cheek softly. "No problem Asu~! You can always depend on me, my friend!"
Asura was drawn back to reality when he heard Maka speak. "Say, Kid...how did Shinigami-sama seal the Kishin?" It took Asura a moment to realize that it was his brother whom she asked. He'd never heard his name until now and a part of him could hardly believe that his father actually named his brother 'Kid'.
"Ah? Oh, father removed all his skin and the sealed him in a bag made from it. Then he rooted himself here and used his soul and body to keep Vajra sealed away." His brother explained. When the girl gave him a questioning look, he added, "The Kishin's name is Vajra. Father told me he had somehow managed to seal his own Meister's powers and killed him...the story is disturbing, especially since he seemed really torn up over failing Asura. That was the Kishin's Meister's name."
The older shinigami felt his heart skip a beat, and a shamefully pleased smile stretch across his face. He hid it by burying his face into his scarf. It felt kind of nice to know that his father actually cared that he had disappeared, but he couldn't help feeling guilty as well. He was a horrible son, wasn't he? Letting his father think he'd died, not trying hard enough to get home, feeling glad that the man was upset about his supposed death. Yes, he decided, just the worst.
"That's...it sounds a bit excessive." Came the reply from Tsubaki as her image shone on her weapon form. Soul's form shimmered onto the blade of his scythe as well.
"I agree, couldn't he have picked something less...ya know, cruel?"
Kid sighed. "I asked him later about it. He said, at the time, he'd wanted Vajra to suffer for hurting Asura like that. Apparently this Asura person was a very cautious person who only trusted his weapon. And father told me he was his apprentice as well, so I would assume he cared about him a lot." Well, that wasn't entirely right...
Asura felt awkward listening to the others talk about him, even if they weren't aware he was Asura. And Shinigami hadn't told Kid, he'd never get over the fact his brother was named Kid, that they were brothers...did he not see him as a son? Was he really mad at him? Did this mean he'd been disowned...? Oh god, he felt sick...and dizzy and...
The boy's legs gave out and he cursed his own damn inability to keep up with a bunch of children. He sat, taking quick shaky breaths in an attempt to get enough air. 'Damn, I'm so pathetic...I can't even run for long anymore...' The shadow standing over him didn't register until he'd finally caught his breath again and the burning feeling in his shaky limbs had subsided. Looking up just enough for his eyes to be visible, Asura saw Stein.
"You're not having another panic attack, are you?" The man asked, cocking his head to the side, the lighting made his glasses gleam in an unsettling way. Asura slowly shook his head, eyes glancing over the man in case he had a weapon before settling on the ground. "...what's wrong then?"
Oh god, where to start? He was tired, stressed, and scared out of his mind. There were witches trying to revive Vajra and he was stuck tagging along with the group trying to stop them. If they failed, Vajra would never let him go ever again. His father was trapped, his brother didn't know he existed, he couldn't keep up with kids! Kids who were currently staring at him, he didn't see, but he knew they were. He could feel their eyes, watching, judging...they must think he's so weak...
On top of all of it, the last wound he'd received from the Sentinels before his escape had torn open again in his run...oww, that really hurt...why hadn't that healed yet? Not all of his powers were restricted by the collar, just the most destructive ones and healing to some degree. At least it was now just a long, shallow cut across his side, but the blood leaking from the wound would definitely bother him until he took care of it.
Suddenly he felt his stomach clench up, and then he was heaving up what ever food he'd eaten. Stein simply stepped around him, crouching next to the boy and carefully rubbing his back. Ever observant, he noticed how the kid immediately tensed under the touch despite how uncharacteristically gentle he tried to be. The doctor wasn't stupid, he'd noticed how anxious the boy was. Almost to quiet to hear, the boy mumbled, "...'s the longest it stayed down..." God things weren't looking good for this kid, what the hell had happened.
Another minute of sitting and Asura pulled himself up again, silently grateful for the doctor's help steadying himself. "...I'm sorry...I won't slow you down anymore..." Pointing in the direction they were going before, he asked, "This way...?" Stein nodded and they all started running again, this time Asura would be sure to keep up and not slow them down.
It was a while later that he'd heard Black Star ask Maka, "We've been running for a while...can you sense the witches souls ahead?" The girl nodded.
"Yes, I can sense the soul protect around them."
"What? That's all? I thought that was your thing!" Black Star laughed loudly at that and Maka glared at him.
"That's really rude!" She yelled, making the ninja laugh harder.
"Ahahaha! You get angry right away." Before she could retrot, Asura felt a new soul appear in range of his perception. Maka seemed to feel it to.
"Doctor! There in the shadows...I sense a soul! ...There's no doubt about it, this obscene and horrible sensation..."
Asura stared at the girl in confusion, "I don't understand why you're being so dramatic...it's just a human soul..." He muttered this just loud enough for them all to hear. Stein glanced back with one eyebrow raised as the red haired man Asura saw earlier appeared. He had a depressed look on his face.
"An obscene and horrible sensation huh...?" He'd repeated as Maka yelled, 'dad!'.
"Well, well, you've got soul perception too? You just keep getting stranger and stranger." He said, adding, "But good job, you're right. Maka just always acts like this around this person." Asura hid his face again at the praise, though it felt nice. "And good job on escaping from the spell Spirit."
"There's no one better than me to escape from a woman!" The red haired man exclaimed. Asura decided that that was probably not a good thing.
"I never thought less coming from you." Stein replied. "But you are right on time, I was anxious as to how far I would get without a weapon. So this way?" The man nodded his head in the direction they were going and Spirit nodded. Then his gaze set on Asura, a curious look on his face.
"And the mystery kid? What's his name?" The question was met with silence and it took a moment for someone to speak.
"Huh, what is your name?" Stein asked, only for the boy to burrow deeper into his scarves to hide. Knowing he wouldn't get an answer now, the doctor shrugged. "He's not much of a talker it seems. Anyway, let's go." Spirit sighed and transformed, casting one last suspicious glace back at the boy.
"Everybody, we don't know what's waiting for us ahead, so take your weapon forms and don't change back. Remember, only one attack can take your life." Stein smiled as his students announced their understanding. Then he turned to Asura. "I'm still suspicious of you, but you've had every opportunity to try to leave or kill us so far, yet stuck with us. It will be most dangerous for you, so if you choose to go on ahead, stay close to me or my students."
Asura nodded his understanding, though he felt like he didn't have a choice. 'You have no idea.'
