Yeah, I'm sorry this chapter's so short and so late. I'll try and make the next one longer.

For anyone wondering why, I've been jobless for a while so I've been trying to sell things in craft shows to make extra cash until I get a job and in my spare time I've been focused on my original story so this fic and my other one took a back seat for a while. If you guys like this AU, I'd appreciate if you'd check out my other AU (Currently titled "Abandoned AU" as a temp name). It's another Asura centric AU since there aren't enough.


Asura hovered in his doorway, peering down the hall to be sure no one else was there. He didn't plan on running into any of the others today, especially not Liz. Their party was today and he had no interest in joining it. No matter how many times Liz tried to tell him it was a "small" gathering, he knew there would be more people than just their friends. Something had told him her idea of a "small party" was very different from his and he was somewhat proud of assuming properly.

Seeing no one there, Asura slipped out of his room. He made it to the end of the hall before running into someone. Kid looked up at him, already fully dressed in black dress pants and a white dress shirt. "You're not dressed." He stated, looking a little surprised. "Aren't you getting ready for the party?"

He said nothing, only turned his head so he wouldn't have to look at his little brother and scratched at the back of his neck anxiously. "You're not going are you?" Asura sighed at the disappointed tone in Kid's voice and shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I dislike parties because of the crowds and to add to that I barely slept." The last addition was true, the longer things went on the harder it got to fall asleep. Every time he tried he would find himself back in that prison or in the square he was recently attacked in. More recently he had been finding himself at home with blood stains dragged through the manor leading him to the maimed corpses of his brother or the girls.

Kid set a hand on his arm and patted him awkwardly, a look of concern plastered onto his face. "Are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick." Asura nodded slowly but Kid gave him a skeptical look that told him his brother wasn't buying that. "Is it your nightmares? If you want to talk about it Asura... "

"No." The word came out harsher than he meant for it to, so Asura continued In a softer tone, "Maybe... Maybe later. I don't want to ruin your mood. Have fun with your friends first and worry about me later. I can manage it on my own." Kid still eyed him with that disbelief, but nodded.

"I'll hold you to that."

Asura gave him a small smile, "I believe that. Good luck finding me later."

The younger boy rolled his eyes at the comment, "Anyway, could you at least come down later anyway to say hi to everyone? Maka keeps asking about you since Soul told her what happened." Asura nodded slowly, taking a moment to consider it before agreeing. It wouldn't hurt to show up for a few minutes to see Kid's friends and the smile he got from his brother was very encouraging. That seemed to be the right choice. They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Kid gave a nervous laugh and straightened his already pristine shirt. "Well, I think I'll go and find Liz. If I were you, I would go find a place to hide before she comes searching."

"Understood. Remember brother, you didn't see me yet." Asura said in a playful tone. Kid smiled at that and nodded along.

"Got it. I'll see you later."

Once he was out of earshot Asura sighed and shook his head. He was going to go hole up in the library for now. If luck was on his side he could avoid Liz until he was ready to show up and see Kid's friends.


Asura wandered through the manor, following the sound of music and chatter as he felt the anxiety rise and guilt pressing down on him. One of the security staff had found him in the library and informed him that Death needed to see him and Kid. He had offered to track down his little brother and his weapons for them, but still found himself feeling horrible for this. They had been so excited for this party and he was about to put an end to their fun. Even worse, he wouldn't be able to actually keep his promise to Kid and talk to the others.

He peered down on the party from the stairs above as he scanned for his brother, spotting the striped hair fairly easy. Still, he found himself rooted to the spot as the guilty gnawed at him again. He could see his brother talking with his friends, clearly enjoying himself. It was stressful to know that he was going to be dragging Kid away from that.

Deciding not to make a scene, Asura looped back around and found another way onto the manor's first floor. He crept up on the crowd and focused on his soul perception. The familiar tug of Kid's soul was quickly approaching him and he realized that his brother noticed him. He was right, moments later Kid strolled up to him with a smile on his face.

"Asura! Did you finally decide to join us?" He sounded cheery, but it was short lived. His smile dropped and concern replaced it, a hand reaching out to land on the older god's arm. "What happened?"

Smiling reassuringly, Asura answered, "It's nothing really. One of the guards caught me on my way down here. Father wants to see us."

Kid didn't miss the pang of guilt he felt from his brother and it finally clicked. With a gentle pat on Asura's arm, he nodded. "I understand. I'll get Liz and Patti, then we'll change and go together, alright?"

"Alright," Asura repeated back before slinking away. He could feel Kid's gaze follow him until he turned the corner. It set his anxiety on edge even though the only feeling he could read from his brother was concern. The added guilt from not being able to follow through on his promise to Kid and Liz to at least show up to their party and the fear welling up when he wondered why Death wanted to speak with them was suffocating, but he managed to push it down. They would find out soon enough, he was sure, so he hurried back to his room to check for anything he might need.

That was where Kid found him, straightening everything he'd strewn across the top of the desk in his final check so it sat back in it's usual semi-organized chaos. Asura was quick to drop what he was doing immediately and followed Kid out, stopping only to toss the hoodie Liz gifted him aside. He'd already been unable to make the party she was so excited for. There was no way he would let her gift be ruined in case they had a mission. Though he hadn't been told they did, he had a sneaking suspicion that that was the case.

Once he and Kid met up with Liz and Patty, the four headed off. Kid filled them in on the way, "One of the guards caught me earlier. We're not going to see father now, we're going to the Sahara." He waved at Liz and Patty before looking at Asura. "I was told to tell you that this is up to you. Father said if you think you are well enough to handle a mission then you need to go with our teacher Sid. He's the zombie, I think you've met him before. You are going to be our backup. If something goes wrong, you have to step in. Sid will fill us in more on our way there."

Kid shifted closer to Asura then, waving him over before saying, "I also told Liz you were on your way down to join us when you found out about this. She's not as mad as she was earlier."

"Thank you brother." Asura responded. The conversation was cut there before he could begin to worry about Liz being mad. Instead, he chose to focus on the mission. There was only a little doubt that he would go at all. Leaving the city might be the distraction he needed from Vajra. It was also good that they weren't expecting him to fight outright. He would be able to sit on the sidelines unless he was needed and see Kid's abilities in action.


Vajra sat on the manor's roof, watching the students disperse as the sun began to set. His eyes fell on the familiar group of children that he saw Asura with before. Nothing really stood out about them to him, they were just kids. But he supposed they were useful kids. Since Asura seemed fond of his little brother and those kid's were friends of the youngest reaper, Asura might be willing to hear him out if these kid's lives were on the line. His brother was sure to be upset if his friends were killed and Asura would probably try to protect them for his brother's sake. Of course there was the chance that Asura wouldn't care and would let them die. In that case, he could always threaten to tell the youngest reaper that Asura knew they would die. Asura wouldn't want his brother to know because he might hate him if he did and even if the little reaper didn't, Vajra knew Asura would always wonder if he did. It was so easy to use his partner's anxiety and insecurities to make him understand that the one who would help and care about him was Vajra. He had done it before after all.

For as long as he's known him, Asura had always been insecure and anxious. Asura tried to hide behind an aloof attitude but he could see past that easily. Constant worries about his usefulness, ability, even his sanity and station among the warlords plagued him. The whispers behind his back and conversations he wasn't meant to hear from the others about him dealt constant blows to his already shaky confidence that his partner tried his best to cover up. It wasn't hard to see that the stress was causing more harm than good, only spiking his fears and encouraging his paranoia. He tried to let Asura know that he would always take his side, that he would always care about him. At some point he'd realized that he was the only one who really cared about his partner. Somehow Asura denied that fact, aiming to prove himself as something more than his fears or the timebomb they thought him to be.

It took time, some set-ups, and a few exaggerations to finally get Asura to see things his way. But even with all his help and reassurances, Asura was still terrified and wary. He knew it wasn't his partner's fault but he wanted to keep Asura safe so he would never have to be afraid again. He still wanted that and he knew how to do it. Asura just didn't seem to want to listen to him anymore. It was probably the fault of his father and brother and those weapons he lived with, pretending to care and help him when really they were just like Death. Using Asura for his power and nothing more. His fist clenched tightly until his knuckles turned white. He had to protect Asura from people like that. It was his job as a friend and as his weapon.

The sound of heavy steps behind him caught his attention and snapped him from his thoughts. Behind him stood a stone soldier dressed in casual clothes and it's head fully hidden behind a scarf, hat, and dark glasses. "There you are. Where are they going?" He asked without hesitation as he stood. Scanning the area around him, he noted that all the guests seemed to have finally cleared out.

His soldier answered in a cracked voice, "The Sahara desert."

"I see. Thank you and tell Rachit to meet with me. We're going to go to the Sahara."