Blasting off.

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Chapter 4: The Inescapable Heaven

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Black Star woke to the chirping of birds. He yawned, fully expecting to be met with the crinkling of leaves and paused.

Now Black Star knew that he wasn't a still sleeper. More often than one he'd wake up in the exact opposite orientation of how he'd fallen asleep, logistics be damned. Most times, Black Star didn't really care, except the times where half of him ended up off the bed. This time too, Black Star woke up with a crick in his back and something soft under his head and he had instinctively tried to place a hand under the soft surface.

His hand contacted something very solid and bony and Black Star opened his eyes.

Then he did a double take.

Somehow, he had ended up using Kid's belly as a pillow, while his back had twisted in a way that he had ended up accidentally kneeing Kid. Black Star involuntarily shifted his head and flinched. Belly or not, it was all bones.

Very carefully, Black Star disentangled himself, careful not to disturb Kid. Though the Grim Reaper had told that he didn't need sleep, Black Star thought it'd be a dick move to wake him up. Kid, apparently dead to the world, did not move one bit.

Besides, as Black Star stood hunching by the exit of their shelter, sunlight filtering through cracks in the leaves, Kid did look like he'd needed the rest. Besides his usual deceptively fair appearance, there were little things that seemed off to Black Star. There were dark circles under his eyes, something Black Star was pretty sure Kid didn't use to have. His clothes looked rather odd too. There were a lot of creases in them, more than he had ever seen when it came to Kid's clothes.

Bah, it was probably nothing. Kid was a Grim Reaper; there shouldn't be anything to worry about-

A slight movement came from Kid and Black Star paused. Looking closer, he saw Kid's eyes moving under his eyelids while his fingers occasionally twitched.

Black Star frowned. Was Kid having a dream? Could Kid dream? Black Star would have to ask him that later.

With another stretch, Black Star left the shelter and was met with blinding sun. Around him, the field was quiet, sans the wind and rustling of branches.

Black Star looked back to the shelter were Kid was sleeping. He couldn't help but remember their conversation last night…

Hell of a reunion this was. Stuck in an unknown island. Not the way Black Star wanted to meet up with Kid after such a long time.

Then again, it wasn't as if Black Star had been clamoring to return back to Death City. On one hand Black Star did have his training—and Tsubaki had even encouraged him to take on pupils—but he'd be lying to himself if he claimed that was the only reason he'd been avoiding Kid.

He wouldn't admit that out loud to anyone, but the more time passed the more Black Star had found himself thinking about Kid. When he would normally blank out during an Academy update, the moment Kid was mentioned Black Star found himself eavesdropping. He would listen in about what new policies Kid had implemented in their alliance with the Witches, and he would actually pay attention. It was a silly newfound eccentricity, probably one created because Black Star feeling lonely when he didn't have anyone he could have a full-out spar with.

But, it still made Black Star think. It made him think about his younger years and how he used to flare up with jealousy whenever Kid was brought up in conversation, resulting in lofty claims that he'd surpass God, which he did do eventually because he was just that awesome. But at that time, Black Star had started becoming more reckless until Kid had kicked his ass and, on a level, Black Star couldn't help but respect that. His jealousy had developed into begrudging, then full on respect.

And well, before Black Star had realized the latter, he and Kid were holding Asura back together as Maka resonated with everyone and he could feel Kid's soul, his anxiety, his fear, his determination mixed with Black Star's own emotions and his stupid mind couldn't help but wonder, wonder what life would be after they'd defeated Asura, wondering what Black Star would do after that, wondering how Kid would get by, wondering about what their life would be afterward…

Apparently, life would be very boring. After they had arrived, Black Star had expected the fanfare and the cheers. What he hadn't expected was Kid losing the only other family he had.

Even then though, Kid had dealt with the matter on his own, perfectly as was expected. He had come out of the Death Room, perfectly composed and informed them of Lord Death's demise. Even at the small private ceremony they had, which consisted of just lighting a small stick of strange-smelling incense, Kid had not shed a tear.

Had Black Star not known Kid as well as he already did, he'd think Kid just couldn't care. He would just make up some theory that it was a Grim Reaper thing.

Problem was, Black Star knew Kid. He knew that Kid had a tendency to bottle up negative emotions and, Grim Reaper or not, said metaphorical bottle would break and result in a torrent of consequences. Hell, Black Star had experienced it first hand at the Book of Eibon and at that time, despite his boisterous mask Black Star had been worried. His chest had ached with dread at what Kid had been saying, and…

Hem. Stupid Grim Reaper.

So, Black Star had just left, hoping maybe the distance would help him clear his head and… well, he hadn't really had a plan beyond that to be honest. He had settled in the mountains, close to where Tsubaki's ancestral home was and poured all his effort in his training to hone his godly strength. Why, he wasn't sure. Part of him had rationalized it that the next time Kid went off the deep end he'd be there to kick some literal sense into him again. Another part of him however…

Anyways, the discomfort Black Star felt was probably because he hadn't seen Kid for some time. Rival or not, he did consider Kid a friend. And really, now was the worst time for him to realise he'd been developing a crush-

A rustle of movement thankfully caused Black Star to lose is train of thought and look back at the shelter to see Kid emerging from it. The Grim Reaper looked around with a frown until his gaze fell on Black Star and his frown deepened.

"Morning sleepyhead," Black Star said with a yawn as he stretched again.

He looked up at Kid expecting to be met with a disapproving stare and maybe even a snarky remark. Instead, Kid had given him a blank look.

"Black Star? What…?" Kid trailed off as he looked at the boy then the shelter. "Oh." He looked back at Black Star and his eyes widened in realization. "Oh, right, we…" He closed off rubbed his forehead. "Apologies, I was… disoriented for a second."

Black Star gave Kid a grin to lighten the mood. "It's because you were sleeping like a rock."

"Must be the stress," Kid muttered under his breath, ignoring Black Star.

Black Star frowned at Kid. "…You think it was the rot?"

"No. It should have been fully flushed out of my system hours ago."

Black Star's face dropped. Right. "So, uh, any plans for today?"

"Ah of course," Kid rose smoothly and smoothed his shirt. The creases stubbornly remained and Kid shot them a glare before refocusing to Black Star. "Ideally, we find a way out of this island. I was thinking since I can fly-"

"Then let's go!" Black Star announced, pointing at the Horizon. "I'll…!" He trailed off in growing realization. He had been meaning to say he'd use his shadows but Tsubaki wasn't there with him. The two couldn't use their abilities to manifest Black Star's shadow in physical form and effectively bunny-hop their way over the ocean, so that left…

"I can carry you," Kid offered.

No. No, Black Star was not about carried along like some damsel in distress, not he who had surpassed God-

Kid's hands came from behind Black Star and wrapped around his torso. His grip was strong and firm. Kinda like an octopus, but Black Star wasn't about to say that to Kid's face.

"Buckle up." It may have been Black Star's imagination, but there was a hint of amusement in Kid's voice.

Before Black Star could protest, he heard two steady whines come from Kid's sides and they were off, Black Star's hair, gums and, to a lesser degree, limbs, wobbling in protest of their less-than-aerodynamic form.

Black Star was definitely getting Kid back for this.

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"Ugh," Black Star groaned for what felt like the umpteenth time. He tried to move his hand, only to find that everything above his elbows was numb. "My shoulders are sore."

"They are?" came Kid's voice from above him, slightly muted by the howling wind. "Sorry, we should have switched positions a while ago…"

Motivated by pure pettiness, Black Star managed to coordinate what little he could still feel of his arms to cross them. "I didn't want you carrying me in the first place."

"Oh. Would you have preferred a piggy back then?"

Oh great, this was getting from bad to worse.

"You'll still be carrying me," Black Star said, arms still crossed because he couldn't move them at all now. Hey, at least he'd accomplished his goal of looking mildly peeved.

In the following silence, Black Star decided to take a look of scenery, or rather, the lack of it.

They'd been flying for what felt like hours. It probably was hours; Black Star wasn't that good at this metaphor stuff.

The so-called scenery before him was boring. Sure, the glass-like water tinted clear blue and reflecting the sun's rays was probably idyllic to some people. To Black Star however, it was boring. Where was the fun? The excitement? The giant Kraken?

No to mention, sea was the only thing he could see. There was no land, no ships, not even fish in the translucent oceanic blue. Just calm, still water.

Black Star held back a yelp as Kid adjusted his grip on him, bringing his hands closer so that Black Star was practically pressed against him and, probably unintentionally, Kid's head was just above the crook of his neck.

Gah. Too close.

Kid looked at Black Star a concerned frown. "You realize you can't exactly fly, right?"

Black Star let down a snort, his hands still crossed. "Give me a day tops and I'll fly faster than you!"

Kid let out a sigh, right by his freaking ear. Again, gah. "Sure…"

"I could do it!" Black Star insisted. Then, because Kid holding him, because he was close enough that he felt the Grim Reaper's chest vibrate with concealed laughter, Black Star's brain short-circuited and he mumbled: "bet you wanted to carry me 'cause of my muscles or something."

The silence that followed was deafening, to the point where Black Star's heard his own heart pound against his eardrums.

Mortified, Black Star looked up to see Kid give him an utterly blank look.

"I… didn't catch that last part clearly. Did you say something about muscles…?" Kid hesitantly asked.

"It was a joke," Black Star quickly mumbled, looking down. Great, he could feel the color seeping onto his cheeks.

"Oh," came Kid's voice. "Uh, ha ha?"

Black Star now seriously considered using whatever strength he had left to push himself off Kid and into the water.

Why the hell was Kid doing this? Was he trying to flirt back or was he just being an oblivious nerd? Both? Neither? Should Black Star just do the flirting equivalent of 'fuck it' and say that he suspected he was crushing—gah, that was so weird to think—on Kid?

No, if Black Star was to do anything, he'd have to first find out if Kid even liked him. It was an act that would require wit, charm and above all, subtlety.

…Black Star was so screwed.

"How far off do you think we are?" Kid asked.

Oh good, a change of subject. Black Star could work with that. "Dunno. Turn back and check?"

As Kid slowed down, Black Star looked at the sky and realized it was afternoon. So, they had been flying for hours. Surely by now they must have made good progress; the island should be just a dot in the Horizon.

Kid's grip became slack, just enough so that Black Star had some room to dangle again.

"Hey, what's going on?" Black Star said, looking up at Kid to see he'd craned his neck around.

Wordlessly, Kid turned around, and Black Star also found himself at a loss for words.

What stood before his eyes was the island. The land stretched across before his vision as if they'd never left the beach. "How…?"

"This is… unsettling-"

"There's no way!" Black Star protested, pointing at the island and the ocean. "We were flying for hours!"

"It's getting dark…" Kid said in a low tone, looking at the sky. Already, parts of the sun had disappeared behind the massive mountain range on the west side of the island, bathing the land in darkness.

Black Star, still at a loss of words, let both of his hands drop in defeat. Stupid place was giving him a headache.

In the silence, Black Star's stomach growled.

"Ugh," Black Star let out. "Let's just find a place to camp again…" This wasn't how he'd imagine their first day of their adventuring to go.

"Black Star," came Kid's voice as the boy looked up to see Kid tilt his head to one part of the island. "Is that the village you were talking about?"

Following Kid's tilt, Black Star looked at the eastern side of the island with narrowed eyes, where sparse vegetation gave way to small and stout white buildings. The village.

Two cliffs made up two of the village's sides, perpendicular to each other. The other half was guarded by a curving wall that reached the two ends of the island. At the corner the two cliffs were supposed to meet, a patch of land trailed off like a bridge before ending up in a wide plateau made up exclusively of fertile field. This was probably where the village got its food from.

"Yeah," Black Star let out. If he focused, he could even see the small elevated area where he'd woken up. "That's the place."

"Excellent."

Before Black Star could protest Kid had picked up speed again, flying straight at the village.

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