Her fingers felt twitchy.

Twitchy, twitchy, twitchy. Like she just needed to dig them into the flesh of her arms until her warm blood ran down her skin. Her body was shaking, trembling as she paced anxiously back and forth on the sand of the beach. Kom was silent as he sat on an upturned log a little ways off, but she could feel his eyes on her.

The beach was a small tuft of sand outside of the town, away from the public eye. Right now she couldn't afford to be seen by anyone.

Kai shook, a vicious tremble rushing through her. It wasn't from the cool air, but from the unbridled rage that she felt flowing through her, the frustration and fury. Her mind felt like it was full of static, a sickening feeling that rose up deep within her—oh she was absolutely pissed.

Bitter. Bitter, bitter, bitter. It tasted so bitter.

Kai could deal with her home being completely wrecked, she didn't give a damn if some witch fleeing from certain death had met her end at the hands of a meister and weapon. Didn't care that their fight destroyed her home to the point it was never going to be repaired and would most likely be demolished and scrapped to have another built atop it's grave. She didn't care about property damage or all the lost possessions.

No, what she couldn't stand for, what she absolutely couldn't fuck accept was that, was that, was that was that was that—!

Maleko was gone.

He was gone.

Maleko. Was. Gone.

They took him. The fucking meister and his weapon that killed that useless no-name witch in her home had gone and run off with her child. Back to Death City, most likely, back to that accursed DWMA.

What little information she had been able to glean while staying hidden among the crowds wasn't any better. Maleko had been severely injured during the crossfire between the two, had nearly been killed and was saved by an emergency surgery when the meister and weapon rushed off with him.

It was hard to breathe. Just thinking about it made her struggle to breathe, to think clearly.

Kai wanted to lash out. She wanted to hit something, someone. She wanted to destroy until her rage was calmed, but knew that she couldn't take the risk no matter how much she needed to find some way to let loose this anger of hers.

Just the thought of Death and his subordinates, his brainwashed army of adults and children in possession of Maleko set her blood boiling. They didn't even deserve to be in the same room as him, they didn't deserve to be anywhere near someone so genuine and innocent, so kind and sweet.

They would never be able to understand him, be able to appreciate how pure and good he was. Wouldn't be able to give the child the kind of care that he needed, that he deserved.

They'd ruin him. They'd taint him with the same poison that was rotting the rest of society.

(They'll probably kill him the moment he acts out of line)

(If they haven't already)

The ocean beside her rumbled, the waves crashed violently against the sand in response to her thoughts. Kai clenched her hands into fists, feeling the sting as her nails dug deep into her palms and blood began dripping down.

No. No. No no nonono!

That wasn't going to happen.

He wasn't going to die, Maleko wasn't going to get killed. He couldn't. Kai wasn't sure she'd be strong enough to survive him dying—what point would there be to the world anymore of he wasn't in it?

Soft footsteps approached her, sand crunching under boots. Kai glanced over, trying to maintain her angry expression, but realized that she looked more exhausted. Her anger was still going on strong, but her heart felt tired, worn out from the fear and stress and rage.

"We shouldn't stay here," Kom warned softly, placing a hand on her shoulder and not appearing to mind as she roughly shoved his hand off. "We don't know if there are still any meisters or weapons around—the town is probably going to have a lot. They'll be looking for you."

He had a point, but she didn't want to accept it. Running away like a coward.

"Whatever happened, it's going to be worse if the DWMA gets you," Kom urged again, being the voice of reason. "We should find someplace to hide, to lay low until we can figure out what to do next."

(We?)

Since when was this a 'we'? Kom had nothing to do with this. His only involvement was that she had been with him when word of what happened reached, that he had come with her back to her town to survey the mess. Why was he acting like this was going to be a joint effort, that they were in this together?

Kai turned around, eyes narrowed as she stared at him, at his copper skin, his damp brown hair and his eyes—her expression softened when she saw his eyes. Green, just like Maleko's. But she forced herself to harden her eyes once more. "And what do you say 'we' do then? Where are we supposed to go? What are we supposed to do?" she challenged.

"I don't know."

"Of course you don't know!" Kai snapped, using all her willpower not to hit him for even suggesting something. But as she raised her voice, Kom flinched back. "You want me to be a coward, to slink back like some scared little kid—while they have Maleko!" Maybe if she was a different person, a better person, she might have felt guilty over yelling at him. But what point was there in wondering what someone else would have done?

She backed away from him and continued packing the beach in anxious fury, saw Kom reach for her only to draw his hand back to himself.

"He's right, you know."

Kai stopped as the voice reached her. Her breath caught in her lungs and she had to force an exhale just to keep breathing. She could hear Kai jolt, a low growl as the sand shuffled under his feet. But Kai didn't turn around to look, knowing too well that if she did, she wouldn't be able to stop herself from tearing her intruders face off. Instead, she felt the ocean reach out and coil around the witch who had arrived, trapping her in the salty water.

"Kai?" Kom asked, his voice an unspoken question; What do you want me to do?

She breathed in and then out once more, struggling to stay calm, to keep her anger in check as the frenzied storm grew worse within her. A few seconds passed and she allowed herself to turn and face them, her expression cold as she stared at the child's face, at the unmistakable yellow eyes.

"You're quite brave showing yourself here when you're in part responsible for what's happened," Kai said slowly, feeling through her link the waters pressure start to increase around the trapped witch. (You could kill her right now. Easily) a faint thought echoed in the back of her head. It wouldn't be hard to kill Medusa; drown her in sea water or crush her under the pressure. It would be child's play befitting the child's body that Medusa now wore.

No one would miss the snake, no one would care, and it would give Kai and outlet to let this rage be unleashed upon.

"Oh, it's my fault?" Medusa asked with a smile, as though this was none of her concern.

It pissed Kai off more.

Of course it was her fault. If she hadn't been blackmailing Kai, then Kai wouldn't have been needing to leave Maleko alone at night to meet up with Kom to find a way to discretely get rid of Medusa without risking the boy. If it hadn't been for Medusa, she wouldn't have had to be leaving Maleko alone, unprotected.

She could have been there when it all went down, protected him, kept him from being kidnapped.

Because that's what the academy had done. They kidnapped Maleko, they'd stolen him away. No matter what kind of pretenses they used or claimed to be working under, they can claim its for his protection, for societies protection, whatever myriad of reasons they might have up their sleeves, it wouldn't justify what they did. Nothing they claimed was going to justify taking Maleko away from her and placing him somewhere dangerous and foreign.

He must be so terrified.

Maleko didn't know what the DWMA was beyond being 'heroes' like David claimed. He thought they were good people, didn't know they hunted his and her kind for sport. That the school brandished them all criminals and monsters just for being born. Those meisters were the real monsters.

When Kai thought of all of that, all she could imagine was her little boy placed in some cold, dark dungeon under the school. Barely fed, all alone, the bare minimum of necessities, such inhumane conditions.

Just thinking of it and imagining what kinds of things he might be going through right now, how scared and hurt he might be—her hands were shaking again, trembling, twitchy. Oh God, she needed to do something, anything.

Or she might just go insane.

"I heard what happened and wanted to offer my condolences, one mother to another," Medusa said, coughing a little after accidentally swallowing some of the ocean water.

Oh, that was just hilarious. Medusa offering some comfort? What, was she finally going insane or something? Kai might have believed it if she didn't already know what kind of woman this witch was. Not even Kom looked to believe her, standing to the side, arms crossed over his chest.

"Funny," Kai said dryly, stepping closer to Medusa. "Tell me the real reason you're bothering me. If your answer isn't completely useless, I might not kill you."

he wondered if Medusa understood just how much power Kai had over her. She may have age and experience over the water witch, more experience than Kai could ever hope for, being more than twice as old as the brunette, but their magics had distinctive differences.

Water was the key to life.

That meant that Kai had control over the life in front of her right now.

She could be just as cruel as this filthy, disgusting world that they lived in, and maybe it was time for Medusa to learn that. To learn just how bad Kai could be when someone took what was hers.

The snake gagged and her face was twisted in pain as the pressure continued, she could easily crush her bones right now under the pressure of the sea. She wondered just how painful it must be. She wanted to cause more pain, more agony on this snake. Wanted to see her begging for mercy, for her own life.

"What if I help you get him back."

Kai stared at her, the water easing it's pressure on the snake witch as she stared at her. She would… help her get Maleko back?

Bullshit.

"Be careful, Kai," Kom said softly as he drew closer to her, "She's a snake; you can never trust what they say."

"Like I don't know that," Kai shot back, but allowed the pressure of the water to increase as she gave Medusa her attention. "Is that so? What do you want in return, then?" she asked, her frown not going away, nor did the suspicious tone she had. "You're not trustworthy, as Kom stated, so forgive me if I doubt you'd help me if there is nothing for you to gain."

Medusa was squirming, it would have been entertaining if not for the toxic taste in Kai's mouth.

"The Acolytes," Medusa managed to get out.

Kai stared at her completely dumbfounded, and even Kom was surprised by that simple two words.

The Acolytes…? What was Medusa even talking about—Wait… was she really insinuating that… no… no way, no fucking way. This had to have been some kind of never ending joke from the Heavens. Kai almost wanted to laugh.

"They got annihilated by Death two hundred years ago," Kom reminded, having caught on around the same time as Kai. "What, you want us to ally ourselves with ghosts?"

Medusa chuckled, despite the pain flashing across her features. "You didn't know?" Kai frowned, waiting for further explanation, "Really now. I figured you of all people would have been keeping tabs on them. No, Death and his little soldiers didn't kill all of them, the Acolytes are very much alive, waiting for the moment to show the world that they're still here, that Death couldn't snuff them off."

She'd jumped off the whole 'Acolyte' wagon back in the late 1700's and stopped paying attention to what those zealots were doing soon after. Then sometime in the 1800's the last she heard of it was that they tried to go on a full-fledged war against Death and got their asses handed to them. Each and every member had been on Death's list for different crimes, usually involving murder in some way, shape, or form, and each one got killed. Or so she thought. But Medusa was saying they survived, and somehow kept the group running for two hundred years without anyone knowing.

Surely if that was true, Death would have caught on.

Honestly, Kai never really cared for the group too much and she couldn't even remember a single name or face of the members she knew back when she associated herself with them. They were just not that impressionable to her.

But, if they were still around… if they were still thriving and if they still had the same values and code as they had when she left them. Then…

A hand was on her shoulder, "It's your call," Kom said softly, "whatever you decide to do, I'm going to go with you, okay? We're going to get Maleko back one way or another, whether you decide to team up with Medusa, or go another way."

So trusting, so loyal. He was earnest and genuine in every word he had said and Kai almost felt bad about him coming along with her. Instead she just shook her head, shrugging off his hand, "You are an idiot," she muttered, before turning her attention back to Medusa and her watery prison.

The water dispersed and Kai let Medusa drop to the sand, the water returning to the ocean as she found herself chuckling darkly. The Acolytes, while never being too interesting, had their uses, they had always been good tools. "Well, if that's the case, I'll be glad to keep this alliance of ours going for a little longer," Kai decided as Medusa stood back up. After all, Medusa knew how to get to get in touch with the current Acolytes and Kai couldn't risk exposing herself to the public just to get their attention.

If she wanted to get Maleko back, she had to do this smartly or she might lose him forever.

Medusa had that awful snake like grin on her face, the kind that left a sickening feeling in Kai (You're playing right into her hand and you know it) as she held a hand out to the taller woman, "We've got quite a bit of work to do," she said.

-0-

If there was a limit to just how bored a child could get, then Maleko had surpassed it. He had hit 'bored' sixty miles back on this nonexistent highway.

Days had passed since he had woken up in Shibusen and they were halfway through the first week of his stay here, and all he had done was stay in an infirmary bed while the three adults took turns watching over him. They said it was to make sure that Maleko didn't run off like he had on the first day, and so he wouldn't do anything that slowed the recovery of his inured stomach or broken arm.

But it was boring!

He was a child, he needed stimulation, he needed physical activity to keep him occupied and entertained. Just laying in bed for days with nothing to do, he felt like he was going to go crazy!

All he wanted was to get out of bed and move around, stretch his limbs and do something, anything. He tried sneaking out to play, even if he didn't have any toys in here, he could play make-believe easily, but, he'd gotten in trouble with the grownups because his version of play tended to be a bit rough when other kids weren't with him, and he almost tore his stitches again.

When Maleko had agreed to stay and work with the grownups, he hadn't thought it would take more than a day until they found mama, but it was proving to be taking longer than he had anticipated. They apparently had no idea where she even went, and even the information that he had given them must not have been as helpful as he had hoped it would have been. Though they seemed interested when he started describing her magic to them, he wondered if they thought her magic was as cool as he thought it was. Mama had the best magic after all, she was the strongest witch out there!

He frowned, tapping his fingers impatiently against the bed as he thought of the questioning session the grownups put him against when he agreed to talk to them, the memories dancing across his mind.

Marie was holding his hand, his good one, but it still stung with his fingers mangled after his escape attempt. He felt small under the gaze of the three adults and found it hard to meet their gazes with his own.

"What can you tell us of your mother?" Screw-Man said as he took a seat at one of the chairs in the room. "Is she like you? A witch?"

Maleko struggled to find his words, he was sure if he had a tail it would be tucked in. "Mama is… mama witch…" that meant she was like him, right? Since Maleko was a sorcerer, and she was a witch.

Someone hummed, he wasn't sure who.

"I see, does she possess magic like yours?" Screw-Man asked and Maleko looked up to see a glint in his eyes, a kind of look that sent a chill down his spine, made him feel like one of those frogs in a science room. "And would you mind giving us the specifics of your own magic?"

Wasn't his magic obvious? He thought so at least.

"I… fire… talent is fire a—and I can," he stumbled, making a face as he found it difficult to find how to explain his power to these people. "Claws… teeth… senses… good."

Marie rubbed her thumb in circles on the back of his hand in comforting motions, "A kind of bestial secondary magic then," Marie said out loud with a nod of her head. "Well, you're young, your magic is still developing, I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to it than that. But your magic sounds really cool."

Maleko allowed himself to feel some pride. He'd never told anyone about his talent outside of mama and the women at those meetings she'd take him to. Mama said people would be scared and angry if they saw it, but these adults seemed interesting. Maybe mama had been wrong, or maybe these people were nicer than the ones she meant.

He wanted to show them some of his talents, but didn't have the energy for it. Besides, they wanted to know about mama's talents too, right?

"Mama has water," he said finding excitement bubbling up as he started talking about what she could do. "Mama strong—strongest! Water do w-what mama says. Any drink, mama control. Really cool!"

Mr. Red groaned, a hand on his head, "Great, she's got hydrokinesis," he muttered to himself, "because that is exactly the kind of power a witch should have."

"That is troubling," Marie mumbled.

Maleko could sense the discomfort in the room and let out a low whimper, did he say something wrong? He thought mama's power was cool, but it didn't seem like these adults felt the same way about it as he did.

But soon enough Marie was smiling at him with that comforting smile of hers, "It's okay," she must have noticed his own growing worry, "it's nothing to worry about. Can you tell us what kind of women she is?"

"Mama nice, an pretty, an… an good," Maleko finished firmly. "Mama found me, an, an gave me home—a home, didn't have to. Mama gave me name, an, an always care for me, get hurt she takes hurt away."

The questions continued. Did he know any friends mama might go to, any places mama might hide at, any enemies mama might have had. Did he have any idea of any place that she might have gone to get away from others. He couldn't answer any of them.

It made him realize he didn't really know a whole lot about her.

He forced himself out of his thoughts with a vicious shake of his head. No, don't think like that. He knew what kind of person mama was, he knew the important things. Just because he didn't know where she might have gone didn't mean he didn't know much about her!

(She never tells you why she leaves home for hours at a time)

Maleko grimaced as that thought invaded his mind. Of course mama never told him, cause it wasn't important enough for him to know. She said so herself when he first asked that it wasn't anything he had to worry about.

And his recovery felt like it was taking too long. He'd gotten hurt before. Back before mama found and took him in, he would get scrapes and cuts all the time. He never got impaled on things before or broke his bones as badly as this before, but he'd gotten hurt a lot of times, badly, too (Tiger bites and claws are painful!) and he felt like he got better quicker out there than he was in here.

But they assured him that they were doing their best to make sure he had a quick recovery, they just needed him to rest so his body could repair itself.

Honestly, mama would probably be telling him the same thing as them, that he need to rest if he wants to get better. That thought was what helped him quell a bit of his restlessness and bring a smile to his face. He wondered if mama was okay, maybe she just got lost and needed help to find her way back home. He could understand that, he got lost easily.

But still… he missed her. He really missed her and he wanted to be with her again.

Maleko had grown used to being at her side every day that he had forgotten what it was like when she wasn't around, he'd forgotten what it was like before he was introduced to that warmth and love, before he was shown what a family was and what it felt like to be cared for by someone else.

The adults he was with right now were nice, but, it wasn't the same.

He hoped they found her soon, that way the two of them could go back home. He wanted the familiarity and comfort home provided. That she provided.

But, at least he'd have some stories to tell the other kids when he got back home. Maleko bet that David would be excited to hear about what Shibusen was like, he hoped his friend wouldn't be jealous. Maybe Maleko could bring back something from the school for him, this was Davids dream school after all. He was sure the boy would be glad to have some souvenir.

He wanted to be out and playing with the other kids again. Even if they got mean sometimes (oftentimes) it was so much more fun being with them than being confined to a bed for days at a time. He'd even play the kishin egg without complaint and let the other kids hit him like they always did during those games because even that would be more fun than this right now.

And sometimes Maleko couldn't help but consider the idea of sneaking out and running off. Take matters into his own hands to find mama. He might have better luck finding her than the school.

But, even if he did sneak out of the school what point was there? He had no idea where he was, they spoke the same language mama was teaching him, so maybe he was on another part of the island, or maybe mainland? He'd never gone mainland before. But mama said the rest of the country was really big, he'd no doubt get lost if he tried to run from the school.

Then the school would have to waste time finding him and waste people looking for him when they could be using that time and effort to find mama.

The city looked scary, too. He'd never seen a place that had so many buildings clumped together like this town. It felt cramped, too confined like there was no freedom for anyone, it felt claustrophobic.

He didn't like it.

Mr. Red… Spirit the man had told him, shifted in his chair in the corner of the room, it was his turn to watch the boy and honestly, Maleko liked him more than he liked the Screw-Man, Stein. He wasn't as scary looking. Marie was still his favorite, though.

"It's about time for lunch, should start thinking about getting you some food," Spirit commented after taking a look at the watch on his wrist and then looking over to the boy.

At the mention of food, Maleko perked up, cocking his head to the side to look at Spirit. "Chic?" he asked with a hopeful look. He was really in the mood for chicken right now, but, then again, he was always in the mood for chicken. Though, he was a fan of meat in all its forms.

The red haired man just smiled, chuckling to himself, "Yeah, yeah, chicken, I'll see if there's any when I stop by the cafeteria," he said and stretched his arms over his head, "no promises, though. I can't guarantee that the cooks are serving any chicken today."

Either way, Maleko just smiled, producing a small rumble deep in his chest to show his appreciation as he nestled back into the pillows. His stomach still hurt, but it wasn't even something he could call pains anymore, more like a dull ache. That meant it was healing, right? Stein had said something about how his magic might be speeding up the healing process.

There was a rustle from the chair and he turned his head to look over at Spirit again, the man was putting down the magazine he had been reading and lifting himself up from his chair.

"I'm going to go use the restroom quick then grab us both some food," the man explained as he adjusted his tie and rested his magazine on the small table by his chair. "I'm sure you can take care of yourself for a little while, I trust you wont get into trouble while I'm gone," he said and headed towards the door with a 'be back in a few' being his departing words.

The door shut quietly and Maleko was alone in the room, not something that happened too often or for very long.

He glanced to the window, it had been left open to let in some fresh air. They probably thought he'd learned from the last time that jumping out the window to run off was a terrible, terrible decision. Plus, Maleko thought as he looked down to his fingers, still wrapped in bandages, his nails hadn't recovered yet so it'd be more harmful for him to try that trick again.

But, at least the window was open, he hated it when it was closed. It made the room feel stuffy, made him feel like he was caged. It left Maleko feeling anxious and twitchy, Marie had noticed that and had taken to opening the window whenever she came by and found it shut. It wasn't like the cold nights would bother him any, his affinity for fire caused him to always be warm.

He could escape right now, if he wanted to. Spirit wasn't around, he could sneak out somehow and find his way out of the school.

But he didn't want to.

He had to be the good boy right now, he had to sit by and behave until they could find mama. He promised. He had promised that he would work with them and behave so that they could do their job.

Though, at the very least they could have done something to provide him with a little bit of stimulation. He was dying of boredom here. At least he had a nice view of the sky, could see the starts when the sun set.

"Come on, let's hurry before he comes back!"

The sudden shout from outside the room caused Maleko to give a jolt in surprise, his head snapping forward to face the door as he pushed himself up on his bed, careful of all the ivs in his arm. Someone was running in the hall, someone loud, a voice he didn't recognize. He could barely make out the sound of someone else running after the first one, softer footsteps drowned out by the loud boy.

"Blackstar!" it was a girl, by the sounds of it. "I told you—this isn't a good idea!" she snapped at the first one, not as loud as this 'Blackstar', but loud enough that Maleko could hear them clearly. "I understand how you feel about this, but, Lord Death is allowing it so we can't just jump in and fight. Besides, what are you going to do with Tsubaki not here?"

"She's sick, I'm not dragging her into this fight when she's not in her best condition!" the boy snorted, "Besides, are you trying to imply that I can't beat some witch on my own? Did you forget I'm the one who's going to surpass God? I can handle this on my own without any help!"

Feeling a moment of fear and anxiety, Maleko scrambled off the bed and crouched behind it, wincing as the ivs tugged at his bad arm. He'd just barely managed to duck out of sight when the infirmary door was slammed open with enough force that it gave a loud crack as it hit the wall. It was a miracle that it didn't come flying off the hinges altogether, but the boy suspected that something broke nonetheless.

Standing in the doorway was someone he'd never seen before. A boy much older than Maleko, yet younger than the grownups he'd been with so far, maybe a student here? He looked strong, and he reeked of pride. The boy strutted into the infirmary, looking like he was the one who ruled the whole place.

"Are you scared yet? Cause the great Blackstar is here!" his intruder announced loudly, a gigantic grin stretched across his face as he pointed forward, "This is the end of the line for you, but now you get to die at the hands of the man who will surpass God!" he puffed his chest out in pride.

Maleko stared at them, peering over the edge of the bed with wide, nervous eyes, not quite sure what to make of all of this.

A girl quickly dashed into the room when Blackstar finished his entrance, giving him a good whack to the head, "Idiot!" she snapped harshly. "We're not supposed to be here, are you trying to get us in trouble?" she grabbed his arm to try and tug him out of the room, "Blackstar! I'm serious, you can't just fight everyone you meet just because they're a witch! A…" he eyes trailed over to Maleko and her tugging stopped. "…witch?"

She trailed off and stared at Maleko in confusion and he, in turn, stared back at her. Then, slowly, he raised his good hand up to offer her a shy wave. Even the boy looked startled when he finally took a look at the so-called threat he had been planning to fight.

"Wait, who even are you? You're not the witch, are you?" Blackstar asked, ripping himself free of the girls grip and hopping onto the bed and crouching so that he could look down at the boy. "I thought we were supposed to be having some big dangerous threat here, but you're a pipsqueak. Maka, this can't possibly be the witch the school is keeping, is he? I thought witches were girls."

The blonde sighed, "Witches are generally female-only," she said and took a few steps towards them, "His soul matches, though, so I'd guess he's a sorcerer? I guess they never specifically said that it was a witch that they had brought in, I had only assumed so because witches and sorcerers souls tend to have the same kind of wavelength."

Blackstar grumbled and shifted from a crouch to seating himself on the bed, arms crossed over his chest. "Man, this sucks. No way I'm fighting a kid," he muttered defectively. "Every time I go to fight a witch or sorcerer, they end up being kids, what the Hell."

Maybe they weren't as dangerous or scary as they first seemed. Slowly, Maleko peeked more of himself out from behind the bed. "Who.. you?" he asked cautiously. They were Shibusen students, sure, but they had come barging into the infirmary in a scary manner.

Blackstar looked over to him and grinned, jabbing a thumb at himself. "Why, I'm Blackstar, the best meister in this school and the strongest person you'll ever meet," he boasted and then shrugged at the blonde, "and that's Maka. She can be a buzzkill so don't mind her too much."

That earned him another whack from the girl and a displeasured noise. "Shut up," Maka grumbled and then looked at the boy, her expression softening. "I'm Maka Albarn, a meister as well. What's your name?"

"Maleko."

"This really is a drag, I was really hoping you'd be some grown witch that I could fight," Blackstar complained as he shook his head.

Maka sighed, hands on her hips. "Even if he was a full grown witch, you wouldn't be fighting him. Lord Death hasn't issued any sort of execution order on him and we'd both get in trouble for you're bullheadedness."

Now Maleko didn't really get what she was talking about, who's 'Lord Death', he could have swore the adults mentioned him a few times, and what even was an execution order? He also didn't get why they'd get in trouble fight fighting him, but the boy crawled up onto the bed beside Blackstar, "Fight," he said simply.

Both looked at him.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Maka asked.

He made a face, toying with the tubes and wires still hooked up to him, ready to rip them out. "Fight," he repeated, looking at Blackstar now. "Fight you. Wanna fight you, beat you, too!"

Now it was dawning on Blackstar what he meant, thought Maleko thought it was obvious, because the student had this smirk on his face, "Oh, you sure you can beat a big man like me?" he asked, cracking his knuckles and getting off the bed to stand, "then, let's have at it, you and me!"

Maleko crouched, grinning himself. He hadn't gotten to do anything exciting, and a play fight was just the sort of exercise that a growing boy needed, and it sounded fun. Blackstar seemed fun. They both ignored Maka who was insisting that they both stand down, waiting for the other to make a move first.

He had his legs ready to spring himself forward, and was just about to do so when the door opened.

"There won't be any fighting between you two."

Maleko just about fell face first off the bed.

Standing in the doorway was Spirit, with an expression that was like he was trying to say he was too old to deal with stuff like this. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head, "I leave for a few minutes and you nearly start a fight," the scythe said in disbelief. "What did I say about behaving?"

The boy, after regaining his balance, looked down in embarrassment. Blackstar looked a bit annoyed to have the fight stopped but didn't make any move to reinitiate it. "Sorry," Maleko mumbled, feeling guilty for having broken his promise with the adult.

Spirits expression softened and he stepped further into the room, "Don't give me that look, it's not entirely your fault," he assured the boy and glanced at the students, his expression stern. "You two aren't even supposed to be in here. Blackstar, I'm not surprised you would sneak into here, but Maka?"

"We heard you were keeping a witch in here," Blackstar defended himself with his arms thrown into the air, "after what happened with Medusa just recently, can you blame us for not wanting to take that risk?"

But Spirit sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as though to keep himself composed, "So you both decided to confront what you thought was a witch, who could have been a dangerous threat… without your weapons?"

Now it was Maka's turn to step forward, gesturing to the blue haired loudmouth, "I was only coming along to try and stopBlackstar, I didn't want to come here or start a fight," as though she was offended that Spirit was insinuating that she'd do the same thing as the boy there. "Besides, you're keeping him locked up in the school infirmary, do you really think students aren't going to come in here? What are they supposed to do if they get hurt during training if they can't come in here?"

Oh, she had a point, Maleko realized. If people weren't allowed to come in here because he was here, and if this was the nurses office, then he was in their way of getting better if they got hurt. He kind of felt bad about that.

"We plan to move him once his injuries are healed enough, and the infirmary is only under lockdown until we can guarantee that there won't be any problems for either sides if we let him and the students come into contact," Spirit explained with a sigh. "Like you said, Medusa had only recently made her attack on the school, students are going to be on edge when it comes to witches and sorcerers alike. We don't want to let him roam around the school and a student panic and hurt him, or for him to panic and lash out at the students.

Now it was Maleko's turn to feel offended, his offense towards the assumption that he'd hurt the students here just because he got scared. Well, he probably would if he was scared and felt threatened, but that would mean the students had to lash out at him first! It'd be justifiable self-defense then.

He may have also began tuning out the rest of the conversation between Spirit and the two students, having been distracted by a butterfly he saw flying outside the window, catching only bits and pieces of the conversation that followed. He only snapped back to attention when he noticed Spirit walking up to the bed, turning his head to look at the adult again.

Then he noticed something else that he had been too preoccupied to notice at first. The distinct lack of food and even the scent of it on the man. "No… food?" he asked slowly with a tilt of his head. Hadn't Spirit said he was going to grab them some lunch? Did something happen or did he just stop here on his way down there?

Spirit gave an awkward laugh, "Yeah, about that," he said slowly, "The line in the cafeteria is way too long, and I got called in to a sudden staff meeting. Was stopping by here to let you know what's going on. I would have seen if Marie could get you some food when she stops by to drop some clothes off for you, but she has to go to the meeting as well, and we know you're not comfortable being alone with Stein."

"So… no meal?" Did that mean he was going to have to wait until dinner to eat next? Well, it wasn't like this would be the first time he only had one meal a day, or even one meal every few days. But, he'd grown used to having three meals a day since living with mama, so he wondered if his body was prepared to go back to how things originally were.

He must have been making a pretty dejected expression because he saw guilt flash across Spirits face for a moment, and then; "Why not let him join Soul and I for lunch?"

Both he and the adult turned to Maka, who had her hand raised like she was volunteering, stepping forward towards them. "Soul and I don't have afternoon classes today so we were going to go out to eat, and he's a growing kid, so he shouldn't skip meals like that," she explained as she lowered her hand, "I'm sure Soul and I can handle him while you're occupied."

Spirit had a look of relief on his face when she offered, "Really? Thank you Maka, knowing you it shouldn't be any problem," he said and then turned back to Maleko. "Looks like you're going to get to spend the afternoon with the DWMA's brightest student, how lucky."

For his part, Maleko just looked at Maka and tilted his head to the side, "Maka?" he asked slowly, and when the blonde nodded, he smiled brightly, "Maka! Maka ah f-friend, wanna be with." And then he turned to the other boy, "Star, too!"

Spirit laughed and ruffled his hair a little, "Seems you're on board for this arrangement," he removed his hand but was still smiling, "The meeting should only take a couple of hours so we'll be back to spending time with you this evening, alright?"

As Maleko nodded, Blackstar walked back over to the bed, bending over so he was eyelevel with the boy, "You and me, kid," he said, grinning as he gave him a light punch in the shoulder in a playful manner. "We're going to have that fight once you're given the A-Okay, alright? Then we can see if you really can beat me."

Puffing out his chest much like Blackstar had when he had strode into the room, Maleko nodded with a toothy smile, "Maleko win!" he claimed, earning a laugh from the boy.

"We'll see about that," Blackstar retorted as he began walking towards the door, looking over to Maka before he left, "I'm going to hit the store and pick up some cold medicine for Tsubaki, you have fun with the kid," he said as he left.

Maleko watched him go and even continued to stare at the door long after the blue haired boy was gone. Then he turned his attention back to Spirit and Maka, still smiling from ear to ear, he felt his face heating up just from the excitement he was feeling.

"Alright," the weapon said looking at Maleko as he sat on the edge of the bed, "let's go over some rules for you while you're with Maka, okay?"

"Aight!"

"First of all, you're to behave for her, do as she says and don't cause her any problems," Spirit began, holding up a single finger and Maleko nodded to show he understood. "Second, you're injuries should be healed enough for you to walk around a little, but you have to reign in your energy. Your arm is still broken and you can still tear your stitches if you're not careful. If you start feeling pain, stop and rest, and make sure you let Maka know. If you start bleeding, come back here and get Nygus—you remember who Nygus is?"

"Nygus… Ms. Mummy!" Maleko chirped and Maka gave a soft little laugh at that in the background.

Spirit chuckled but nodded his head, "Yes, that's her," he confirmed, a smile ghosting his features. "But if you feel any pain around your stitches, stop what you're doing and don't strain them any further. No running off, either. You have to stay with Maka at all times, and if you run off; trust me she will find you," Spirit explained and glanced at the girl, "You don't want to get on her bad side either, so don't do anything you know will upset her, and you better not do anything to hurt her or make her cry, because then you have to deal with me."

The boy just nodded again, "Aight. Maleko behave," he promised.

Reaching over, the man ruffled Maleko's hair once again, "I'm sure you will, I'm putting my trust in you, okay?" he said while standing up. "Think of this as a test, too.. If Maka has nothing but good things to say about you when you come back later, then you might be allowed more freedom of mobility, which I'm sure you'd prefer over being stuck in bed all the time, right?"

Between being in bed, bored out of his mind, or being able to get up and walk around, he certainly preferred the one where he could move, and if all that he needed to do was to stay out of trouble to get that freedom. Well, he was going to be on his best behavior for Maka. "Ye, ye!" Maleko grinned, nodding his head.

Another smile found its way to Spirits features. "Good, now, can you repeat the rules to me?"

"Maleko behave, behave for Maka! Ms. Mummy if Maleko hurt!" he began counting off on his fingers, "Maleko stay by Maka."

"Right," Spirit agreed, "I'm sure this wont be hard at all for you."

Spirit took the iv's and wires from his arm and after that they just needed to wait for Marie to arrive, which didn't take too long. A few minutes passed and a faint knock echoed on the infirmary door before it was pushed over and the familiar bright gold and deep black came into sight. Maleko perked up on his bed when he saw warm smile he liked so much.

"I thought you might like something more comfortable than a hospital gown," Marie said as she carried a bundle of folded clothes in her arms. "I wasn't sure what kind of clothes you liked, so I hope these are okay."

What she held out were clothes from home, something she must have been salvaged from the wreckage. A grey button up shirt, black trousers and boots and some suspenders. It wasn't the complete outfit, but it was what he wore when he went to those Mass meetings with mama, a kind of outfit he only wore for formal occasions with witches and sorcerers.

Yep. He liked them.

The boy was quick to tug off his gown and found Spirit helping him to get his clothes, which he had appreciated when he found himself struggling to button up the shirt.

While that was going on, Maka and Marie hung by the wall watching the two before the student turned to the weapon. "How old is he?" Maka asked, glancing over to Maleko, a frown finding its way to her face when she saw the scars littering his tanned skin, all of them looked old, but there were far more scars on him than she felt any child should ever have. "He's really small."

Marie nodded and brought a hand to her face, "I'm not sure, we don't think he's that old, maybe eight or nine?" she said thoughtfully and shook her head, "It's hard to tell with how undersized he is, and I don't think he even knows for sure."

Maka nodded with an 'ah' noise and she turned her attention back the boy who was squirming and struggling with Spirit in getting the suspenders on his pants on, though the child wasn't all too helpful as he was mostly wiggling and crawling out of the Death Scythes grip, giggling like this was a game. Spirit was smiling too, enjoying this. She wondered if she had been like that when she was little and Spirit had to help her get dressed. Watching the two, it was an innocent scene and it made it hard to believe that the boy was a sorcerer, one of the main enemies of the DWMA.

"Eight or nine sounds about right," Maka agreed softly as she placed her hands behind her back, glancing back to Marie, "If you don't mind me asking, what happened? How'd you guys find him?"

There was a pause of silence before Marie gave a sigh. "You know how Stein and I had gone to Hawaii to dispose of a witch out there?" Maka nodded, "Well, we followed the witch, and she led us to the home of another one, probably hoping to seek assistance. Except the witch was absent, the house empty save for the boy who got caught up in the fight. Since he hasn't done anything wrong as far as we know, and because he's young, we're keeping him in our protection and hoping he can lead us to the Water Witch Kai."

"Is she the one he was living with prior to coming here?"

"We believe so."

Before either of them could say more, Maleko bounded over, standing before them with a proud smile on his face as he wore his clothes, looking to the two of them for approval.

Marie smiled warmly, "You look so handsome, Maleko, she complimented, crouching down to his level to fix some buttons on his shirt that he and Spirit had missed. "This suits you so well. If we get you a suit jacket and a bowtie, then you'd look like a member of the elite."

The boy's eyes sparkled as he gave her an open mouth smile, making chirping noises that could only be taken as him being happy.

Standing back up, Marie fixed Maka with a sterner expression, like a mother might face a brand new babysitter with. "You're going to be able to take care of him right? I know its only for a few hours, but, are you sure you can handle this?" she asked.

Maka reached over to take Maleko's hand in her own, just so she wouldn't loose him once they left the room, "We'll be fine, I promise," she said with a smile, "if we run into any trouble I'll bring him right back here."

And the womans expression softened, "Alright. Them, you guys get out of here and have some fun.," she said, gesturing towards the door. "Make sure you give Soul the rundown of what's happening, and make sure you guys all stay out of trouble."

And the two began heading towards the door, Maleko happily hanging onto Makas hand, eager to see what the rest of the school might look like while Maka assure the adults that they would be fine. He had to say, this day wasn't nearly as boring as he originally thought it was.

Authors Note

And yes, Davids remark in Ch. 1 about 'Those extras' was 100% inspired by our favorite explosive boy from BNHA. Because if I'm honest, even though I'm not really a fan of Bakugou, I do love his way of calling others extras and basically unimportant.

Anyways, as always, let me know what you think, if there's anything I can do to improve, etc. etc. Feedback is always nice, even if it's constructive criticism.