Over the weeks that had blurred by, so many so that it had actually been a couple of months in fact, it was safe to say that Maleko was quickly becoming a normal presence for many in the academy, despite being a sorcerer. Fewer students would snap their heads around to look at him when he left his room to wander the halls with either one of the adults or one of the students he had befriended, the halls—and classrooms whenever he snuck in to sit in a lecture—were less tense, as though not as many students were anticipating the nine-year-old to suddenly attack them.

In short, the students and staff were growing used to a sorcerer in their midst.

Of course there were many still who would watch him with disdain and distrust, staying close to their partners so to be ready for an attack, to cut down Maleko at the first sign of treachery.

If Maleko even noticed the way people would look at him, the way some stared at him like he was a monster, he never showed any sign of knowing it. He was happy, well Maleko was almost always happy. All smiles and giggles and full of unbound energy to try everything and do everything.

Whenever someone came down to visit him in his room below the school, he would leap off his bed or floor and drop whatever he was playing with to grab their hand and try to tug them into the room, babbling about this and that with a smile as bright as the sun. Sometimes Spirit and Marie would sneak more toys in his room when he was sleeping or when he was out with one of the students.

There was a murmur of suspicion that they were doing this because they honestly loved the idea of being able to be something of a parent, or to be a parent to a kid who appreciated it again for Spirit. There was no confirmation from either, so it was left as rumors.

Maka had been teaching him how to read little by little, how to write and it was safe to say that the boy could now spell and write his own name, as soon as he learned to do that, the boy just began handing out papers with 'MALEKO' scrawled sloppily on it to his friends and other students as though he were Blackstar handing out autographs.

Blackstar may have been the one to instigate that, though there was no proof.

But no one was going to stop Maleko from doing it either, he was proud of his new achievement, was proud that he knew something that everyone would know to do. How could someone crush that innocent and harmless source of joy?

He'd yet to meet Lord Death despite the time he had spent in there, sure Maleko had heard plenty of him, overheard the adults and students talking about him, or talking to him, but he had yet to see him face to face. Probably for the best, everyone had agreed. Even with the kid-friendly design Death had given himself, it might not be the best idea to have Maleko brought to him for a while longer.

And of course he wasn't technically supposed to go anywhere on his own yet. If he left his room he had to be with someone else, preferably one of the teachers, but Two-Star students and higher could accompany him. Though Maka, Soul and their friends were still only One-Star students, due to circumstances (aka the amount of trust Maleko had in them, the somewhat responsible nature, and that the boy would listen to what they say) they were allowed to take him out of his room and accompany him around the school or even into town on the rare occasions.

It was a freedom that Maleko enjoyed, everyone who looked at him could tell that he loved being able to leave his room. The room may have been exciting at first, and it was still a good place for him, it was his own bedroom after all, but it was not a place he could stand to be in for too long. Maleko wasn't good with small spaces, with enclosed and dim places, he had too much energy to stand it, he needed open spaces, large spaces to thrive, couldn't survive being in a bedroom for days on end. The boredom would kill him if the need to run off and move his body didn't.

Though the toys were a good way to divert all the pent up energy in a fun way. And he had a neighbor too, Crona and Ragnarok. Not that he actually saw them very often, but he tried to go to their door to invite them to play as often as he could so they wouldn't feel left out. Usually he didn't get a response even though he knew they were in their room.

Sometimes they were at class with Maka and Soul, it was fun watching Ragnarok make a scene there, though he didn't like how the black blob person harassed Crona. Bullying wasn't fun.

Maleko liked sitting in on classes. The zombie man would always talk about things that he didn't understand, a lot of stuff about Soul that made no sense—why would the teacher be talking about Maleko's friend that way? No one seemed bothered and apparently Soul was a common subject in the class thing. Sometimes they talked about witches, sometimes sorcerers. Maleko noticed that the teacher, be it the zombie man, Stein, or even Marie, always seemed to be trying to be careful when they talked about his kind, he didn't get why though.

Though Maleko was learning to write, he couldn't write notes yet, didn't even know what half the words used in class were and had no chance of spelling them. Instead he just filled the hour with drawing. Once he drew a picture of the zombie man, Sid, talking in front of the class just as he did in real life. Sid seemed happy with it and said that he'd put it on his fridge—Maleko didn't know that zombies needed fridges, so he was happy to have learned something in class.

Drawing was what he did a lot when he had nothing else to do. Right now he was finishing up the last of his series of pictures for the day, dozens and dozens of crayons littered the floor as he laid on the cold concrete, his legs kicked up into the air and a smile on his face.

The wall across from his bed was covered in his drawings taped to it. Drawings of his friends, of animals and what not. In the center of it he kept a drawing of a sandy beach looking out at a sea and setting sun. He liked that one the most. It was of home.

The one he had just finished was of a jungle and tigers, and he eagerly hopped over to the wall with a piece of tape to add it to the rest of the collection. Soon Maleko would have enough to make a… a… what did Marie call it? A port-full-o? Yeah, that's it! Maleko was going to make a port-full-o of all his drawings, that way he can show them off to mama when she got rescued.

Though it was taking an awfully long time to find her, Maleko wasn't giving up hope. He knew his friends would be able to find her and to bring her home to him, they promised that they would.

By the time she finally got brought back home, she was gonna need a really big fridge to keep all these drawings. He just knew that mama was going to be super proud of his art skills.

His smile grew just a little as he thought of his mama. It was funny thinking back on how they met, how it had been pure chance. They could have easily have never even crossed paths, and if that hadn't happened, he would have never left his first home. All he had been doing was hunting for his next meal, following a rabbit scent when he caught a weird, new scent that didn't belong. If Maleko hadn't decided to follow it, he wouldn't have met mama. He would have still been just a nameless cub in the wild, not knowing there were others like him.

That wasn't to say Maleko had been unhappy before meeting Kai. He loved the jungle, it was his home and eve now, it still called out to him calling for him to come back to it—and he would go back to it without a second thought if there was nothing to keep him here in the world of man. But out here he had mama, he had friends. Sure, he had friends in the wilderness, but wildcats and people were greatly different.

Maleko loved his time in the jungle, he loved it, the jungle would always be a part of him. It was hard work to survive, to find shelter, to find food, and he went to bed hungry as often as he went to bed fed. It was dangerous, too, there were plenty of beasts that would hunt him just as he hunted smaller prey. But it was fulfilling. It filled him with a sense of something that he couldn't make out. It was home, his first home.

In many ways the jungle was easier than out here. Survival was the only rule of the jungle, to do what you had to keep alive. But out here there were a lot of rules, a lot of things you had to do and couldn't do. There were so many more faces to recognize, norms to follow, and people had a larger range of personality and opinions.

Some days this world felt like an adventure, but other days it felt constricting, suffocating, the things he wanted to do he couldn't because that's not what people do.

People, that's what he was. He was a person, not a beast, not an animal. A person meant he was superior to the wildlife, more important, better.

That thought troubled him.

What made a person better than an animal? What made them more important and more deserving? Mama tried explaining it to him before but had given up and said that it didn't matter, that Maleko ought to believe in what he wants to believe, and not by what society says is right. If Maleko thought that people weren't superior to the animals he grew up with, then people weren't superior. After all, there were a lot of things the animals in the jungle he lived in could do that humans couldn't! People didn't have as good a smell as them, couldn't run as fast or climb as well. They didn't have claws or hard skin, or fur to keep them safe.

People lacked a lot of advantages that animals had, so why would they think they're better?

The boy grinned as he started on another picture on the floor, green crayon grasped tightly in his small hand as he scrawled across the white paper. He wasn't sure what he was going to draw this time, only that he wanted green—lots of green. Maybe some blue and grey.

His ears twitched as he caught the sound of wings beating against the air and looked up. His window was open to let in air, but the bars were still set—of course Maleko didn't open the window on his own, even on his desk he could barely reach the window; Marie had opened it for him when she came to visit that morning, claiming that it'd keep the air flowing in his room. But perched on the other side of the steel bars was the same brown bird, staring down at him with bright yellow eyes.

Maleko smiled wide and pushed himself back onto his feet. "You came back!" he squealed in delight at the sight of his new friend. Well, of course the bird would come back—he said he would!

The brown bird just ducked his head down to start preening some feathers rather than respond to Maleko's greeting. So Maleko cleared a space on his desk and climbed on top of it so he could look at the bird closer. It'd been a few weeks since he had first met the bird, and ever since the bird made regular visits every few days, to check in on him as the bird had said, strictly business, the bird said. Maleko believed the bird just wanted to be friends and was using all that as an excuse.

"Taka," Maleko called out when the bird made no sign that it was listening to him or even acknowledging that Maleko was there. "Taka!" he called out, drawing the short name out, and when the bird continued to focus more on his own feathers, Maleko pouted and reached his hand up between the bars, poking a finger into the mix of light brown and white feathers coating it's underside.

The bird gave an angry squawk at that, flapping his wings and jumping back away from the window. When it lowered itself back onto the sill folding his wings up to his body, those yellow eyes were trained on Maleko once more. "I told you, don't touch me like that!" he snapped angrily at the sorcerer.

Maleko liked Taka's voice. It was weird, in a cool way. Gravelly, rough, and somehow it didn't seem to come out of the birds mouth when it spoke, rather it was as though the voices weren't being heard by Maleko's ears but were already in his brain. It was weird, but it was also really cool as far as he was concerned.

"You ignored," Maleko pointed out with a bit of a pout, watching as Taka ruffled his feathers in annoyance.

"You didn't have anything important to say," the bird replied sharply, dipping his head in between the bars to peck lightly at Makelo's fingers.

Taka was an interesting friend all things considered. For starters, he was a bird—a talking bird at that! When Maleko asked him on that, he said that he was something called a magic lifeform and that's why he could talk—Maleko didn't understand what that meant so Taka said he was just a familiar, not that he still understood what a familiar was. What he could understand was that Taka wasn't a 'normal' bird and that he was made with magic, and that he could talk because of magic.

Maleko still didn't understand why Taka started talking to him, but he wasn't going to turn away a friend. Plus, Taka knew a lot more about witches and sorcerers than anyone in this school and had been explaining stuff to Maleko so he'd get better at magic, at understanding his own abilities. Not that a lot of progress was being made, Taka said that his magic was still developing and there was only so much he could do for now. But it was still fun to learn.

Mainly, Taka had been trying to get Maleko to learn something called a 'Soul Protect', apparently it kept people like Maleko and mama safe from those who wanted to find them and hurt them. Taka had used a lot of big words and long sentences to explain it, so Maleko really didn't understand it's purpose that much. But it was supposed to be an advanced spell, something that people at Maleko's level didn't learn—or couldn't learn. Taka insisted that it'd be important for Maleko to learn how to use it.

"Sort of like… imagine covering your soul with a blanket to hide it," Taka had explained during his last visit, "That blanket's gotta be made of magic, to completely conceal your soul."

Maleko had tried but didn't feel any different. Apparently he hadn't succeeded, and Taka had gotten antsy about it at the time. Taka got antsy a lot, he acted like something bad was going to happen and that Maleko needed to hurry, but he never said what the bad thing was, or why he was in such a hurry for Maleko to learn all these spells and magics.

The bird didn't tell Maleko a lot of things. But he made it clear that Maleko wasn't supposed to be here—in Death City, in the DWMA. But he wouldn't say why.

"Alright, so, let's try it again," the present-day Taka said as he ruffled his feathers and adjusted himself on his perch. "Soul Protect, you won't be able to use magic when it's on, but people hunting you won't be able to distinguish your soul from any other humans. Just—just try focusing on putting it in a cocoon or something. Sealing it up in a bubble."

Maleko nodded, climbing down from his desk to sit on the floor as Taka flew from the window to perch on the chair. Even with his eyes closed, Maleko could feel the bird staring at him as he tried to channel his magic inward. Tried to force it in his center—that's where the soul supposedly was. He still didn't understand what a soul was, why it was important and stuff, but he focused on it as best he could.

It was hard, he wasn't going to lie. Whenever he used his magic, his focus was to bring it outward, not inward. Let his magic flow to the surface of his skin and produce dancing flames across his flesh, or to let his nails extend into claws, let his eyesight shift. Everything he ever did with his magic was always external. Trying to manipulate his magic to go deeper within him, to flow the wrong way was hard.

He felt like a fish trying to swim up a raging river when he did that. Pushing against the current to reach his goal, but only getting an inch at a time.

How was he even supposed to know if he succeeded? Could Taka sense a soul the same way that Maka and Stein could? Maleko barely even noticed his own, so how would he know when he had it protected? Did mama use Soul Protect? Was using this spell as hard for her as it was for him?

"Why do I…. need learn?" Maleko asked, cracking an eye open to look at the bird, his concentration gone as he felt a frown tug at his lips. Why did he have to learn something so hard? If he didn't have to, Maleko didn't want to.

The bird huffed, though not physically, Maleko got the feeling that he would be huffing if he could and hopped a little closer. "It's important that you learn so when things get bad you can get out of here without having half the meisters on your tail as soon as they sense you leaving the school."

Maleko hunched over as he leaned forward, peering up at Taka. "They my friends," he pointed out, his tone more confused than matter-of-fact. "They…good. Why would they chase me?" If things got bad… Maleko honestly couldn't imagine things getting so bad he'd have to run away, getting bad at all, for that fact.

"The world aren't as kind to your kind as you may think. Humans, reapers… most of them aren't too fond of witches and sorcerers," Taka explained in a tone that sounded more hateful than educational. "I'm sure even she taught you that much in the short time you were with her. Survival at all cost, that is the way that you were living before she took you in, and that is the way that our kind have to live when among those who wish us dead."

He… didn't really get it. He understood the necessity of survival, that had been the only thing that ever made sense to him for the longest of time, but he couldn't understand the bit about people not liking his kind.

But mama had brought it up to him before, it was why he was never supposed to show his magic around people she didn't say he could. But… did people really not like his kind so much that he might have to run away? No one had actually been mean to him or anything since he'd come by here.

Though… people avoided him when he was in the halls, kept their distance. He could always feel eyes on him in the academy, people watching him, could feel the tension in the air, the fear and anticipation. Some days he couldn't tell if the feelings people let slip through reminded him of the prey he'd hunt… or of the predators he'd hide from.

He didn't want to think badly of other people, but sometimes he did worry.

Maybe Taka was right… maybe he might have to run away one day even if he didn't want to… maybe he'd have to go away and not be found…. Maleko hoped he never would have to.

He had to try and get his mind off of that, get back on the task at hand. Closing his eyes again,

Maleko tried to focus on swimming through his magic once again, not on his thoughts and questions. He focused on pushing up the stream, push through the rushing river within him as the flames prickled right under his skin

He felt like he was getting closer, making progress little by little. That was good. He just had to reach his soul, make a bubble and then he'd—

KNOCK KNOCK

Maleko's eyes snapped open as the scent of gel and timber wafted into his room through the crack under his door and another set of knocks rang on the steel surface. Taka gave a startled squawk, wings flapping as he took to the air, both looking to the door.

A smile was on Maleko's face. Soul was here! He'd recognize the combination of smells anywhere, though he wasn't sure what the teen was doing, Maleko would never turn down a visit. His eyes glanced to Taka for a moment, as if unsure if he should stop the lesson or ignore Soul. Not that it'd work, Soul knew he was there, he'd be rude if he just ignored his friend.

"Go ahead. We'll continue another time," Taka nodded as he flew up to the window, pushing himself between the bars. "Be safe out there, little sun."

"Bye-bye, Taka!" Maleko whispered as he watched the bird fly off. He waited another second before scrambling to his feet and making his way to the door as another set of knocks rang through while Soul waited patiently on the other side.

The door was heavy and it took a bit of effort to pull it open every time, sometimes Maleko had to throw his entire body into opening it, not that he minded. When he'd opened the door, he stepped in front of Soul and smiled wide and the white haired teen, his teeth showing between his lips.

"Soul!" Maleko greeted.

Soul had his hand up, knuckles facing the door and prepared to knock again as he waited on the other side. He knew that Maleko was in there, he could hear the boy moving about, and for a moment it sounded almost like he was talking. Which wasn't strange, Maleko talked to his toys all the time when he was playing, and sometimes when he wasn't as if they were living beings—in a cute kid way, not in the delusional way—so it wasn't like he was worried or anything.

It was a little eleven, about eleven-thirty in the morning to be more precise, nearing lunch time. Which was exactly why Soul was down in the dungeon-like overnight rooms to begin with.

Now it had become a bit of a rule now among his friends to be very careful of what they fed Maleko and where they took him, especially after that pizza incident. It was easy to overwhelm his senses, and he could quickly become sick from overload of greasy and oily scents and tastes. They've had a few incidents after the first time they took him out to eat where he ended up throwing up what he ate, so they had learned to be more cautious.

A small breeze fluttered through the dim halls, cool enough to send goosebumps down Souls bare arms. Damn was it chilly down here, not exactly the ideal place for guests to be staying. Maybe it was designed to keep people from overstaying their welcome.

Soul wasn't the only one who thought it was unnecessary to keep Maleko and Crona living down here—Crona was a student after all and could probably be moved to the student dorms, or they could just move in with him and Maka. Maleko was probably a bit young to be renting an apartment, and if the student dorms weren't an option surely he could stay with one of the professors.

Then again… who knew what Stein might do if a sorcerer was living under the same roof as him, Marie would be a good influence, but Stein might see it as an opportunity for an experiment. Sid or Nygus, Soul could understand, and if he remembered right Sid already had experience with kids by basically raising Blackstar.

Even Spirit would be a good foster home for the kid, and Maleko got along amazingly with the Death Scythe. Hell, Soul was half certain that Spirit was ready to just adopt Maleko once the opportunity arose, Spirit and Marie both—then again they were already parental in their own ways—and though he knew Maka would never admit it, especially considering this was regarding the dad she claimed to hate and Maleko, he was sure she was a little jealous of the two.

But the decision had been Death's to make and no one was going against it. It was probably just until the witch Kai was found and dealt with, after that they'd probably allow Maleko to move in with someone. Soul was sure Maka would volunteer to house Maleko given the chance and it's not as though they'd have to worry about anything.

Maleko may be a sorcerer, but he's a sweet boy. Soul honestly couldn't see him hurting anyone, not on purpose.

The sound of movement got his attention once more and Soul prepared to knock again when the door was slowly pulled open. It was a heavy door, difficult enough for teens, and so he could imagine it was a bit of effort for the kid to tug his door open wide. It was probably a good workout, though.

"Soul!" Maleko greeted with an excited tone, letting go of the door and smiling wide.

Offering a toothy smile, Soul patted his head, "Hey there, kid," he greeted, and quietly thought to himself how he'd never get over how naturally soft the kids hair was, it was more like soft fur than strands of hair. Was that an aspect of his magical trait, or just really good conditioner that no one else had? "It's nearly time for lunch, the whole gang's going out to eat in a bit, and we thought we'd invite you too, give you a chance to meet some of our other friends." After all, this would be the first time since Kid, Liz and Patty had gone on their mission to Hawaii that all seven of them would be eating together again.

Maleko was bouncing on his feet at the mention of friends, or maybe it was the mention of food, it was hard to tell with him sometimes. "I can join?" he asked, and when Soul confirmed it, the boy latched onto Soul, burying his face into the weapons side and wrapping his arms around him. "Thank you! There be chick?" he asked hopeful.

"We'll see if the place has any chicken," Soul smiled as he held a hand out for Maleko to take. It was cute how much the boy loved chicken of any kind. "There's still time to kill after all, Maka and Kid are doing some after-class work, Blackstar's got a meeting with some teachers," over some sexual harassment incident of all things. According to Blackstar he was just killing a bug on a girls skirt, and the girl took it the wrong way. But that was Blackstar for you.

He glanced back at the boy as they began to climb the stairs leading to the main floor of the school. "Hey, Maleko, how about we spend some time at the park while we wait for the others?"

The boy's face lit up like a million stars at the mention of the park, bobbing his head quickly and letting out a howl just to emphasize how much he liked that idea. Soul couldn't contain his laughter at seeing the excitement.

-0-

The park wasn't all that busy when they got there. There were a couple of other families with kids playing or enjoying the nice warm sun. A few joggers or dog walkers would pass by while Soul just resigned to sit on a bench watching as Maleko played. He had sent a text to Maka to let her know what they were doing and to tell him when she and the others were ready to head out.

Honestly he was a little worried over introducing Maleko to kid. The boy wouldn't mind Kid, he'd be ecstatic to meet a new friend. But it was Kid that Soul worried over. He didn't want to doubt his friend, but he wasn't sure how Kid would react to meeting the ward of the witch they were hunting, a sorcerer at that. He knew that Kid wasn't going to do anything, but a corner of his mind still spouted worry and concern over it.

The worst that might happen was that Kid would go into a fit over how 'unsymmetrical' Maleko's mess of hair was. Well, he was sure whatever happened, Maka would be able to put a stop to it. Or Blackstar might make it escalate. One of the two.

With a shake of his head, Soul scanned the park once more to find Maleko, and saw that the boy was crouched down next to a large golden retriever, petting him and making dog noises with his usual smile. The dogs owner seemed to not mind as she knelt beside her dog, keeping a hold of him and laughing at whatever Maleko was saying, even letting her dog lick Maleko's face.

That's what Maleko had been doing for a good chunk of the time they were at the park, dashing from one corner to the other, greeting people, petting dogs, chasing squirrels and climbing trees. It was a fun sight to see and made Soul wonder if the kid ever ran out of energy or if he just had an endless store of fuel inside him to keep him going for hours without rest.

"Is that your little brother?" An elderly woman had come to sit down beside Soul, a cane in her hand and a smile on her withered, wrinkly face. She had grey hair in a tight bob, a sunhat and blue dress, and her eyes were squinted as she looked to Maleko who had moved from the dog to roll on the grass and leaves. "He's quite an adorable child."

Little brother? Soul subconsciously reached up to tug at a few strands of his hair. He supposed they did have matching hair, though that was about it. Still, little brother, that was a thought. "Nah, just a friend, and I guess the designated babysitter for the day," Soul responded with a lazy grin. He'd never considered himself to be an older brother, not with being the youngest in his family. But he wouldn't be opposed to the idea of having Maleko as his kid brother.

"Ah," The elderly woman mused, looking back to the child. "Well, it seems you've your hands full as a babysitter. Children are very energetic and curious souls. How old is he, if you don't mind me asking?"

"About nine, give or take," well, no one really knew for sure, not even Maleko. But nine was the general consensus, though the boy might be older, he might be younger. "He's a wild one, but for the most part the kid is pretty well behaved. Only throw a tantrum when he's really upset over something." And thankfully never involved magic in those tantrums.

As though sensing that they were talking about him, Maleko scampered back up to Soul, dropping a pile of flowers and grass into his lap, complete with the dirt still hanging from their roots. "Soul! For you!" the boy said, extremely proud of his gift, and then cast the woman a curious look, "Ha… hi!" he smiled, waving both his hands at her.

The woman returned his smile with a gentle one, "Hello," she said warmly, "and what might your name be?"

The child just kept smiling, "Maleko!" he chirped.

"Maleko? Why that's an adorable name for an adorable child," she said and reached into her purse, digging through before pulling out a few caramel candies, "would you like a treat?"

The boy squeaked and took them from her with a gracious smile and a 'thank you'. He dropped a few into Souls hand and grinned, "For you," he said proudly as if sharing was a great feat to do.

The older woman just laughed again, "You've such a brilliant air to you, Maleko, I can tell that you're going to shine bright, just like a morning sun." Her compliment made him beam even brighter as he smiled and giggled.

Soul felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out, glancing at the text. A few more words were exchanged with the elderly woman before the woman excused herself to move on and Soul decided it was time for them to head to the restaurant so they could get a table for the rest of the group.

"Wha'd you talk bout?" Maleko asked as he slipped his tiny hand into Souls and swinging their linked hands between them.

The weapon gave a small shrug as they passed a couple of squirrels digging in the grass, making sure he had a tight hold on Maleko's hand to keep the child from running off and chasing the squirrels. "Not a lot. Small talk. She thought you and I were brothers," he answered and gave a crooked grin. Not too sure how she thought that, we don't look too much alike." They weren't even of the same ethnicity. Though it didn't actually bother him much.

Maleko made a face and shook his head as though trying to wrap his mind around it. The kid… he did know what a brother was, right? "Maleko no brother," he said firmly, but very slowly, as if trying the words out first, searching for the right sounds and right words to use. "Brothers…. are… blood. Maleko no… blood… no brother."

Soul chuckled a little, "Well you're not wrong, but there's more to that than blood ties," he corrected as they reached the end of the park and started walking through the business side of the city. "I mean, some brothers are related by blood, but being related by blood isn't a requirement for family. There are a lot of ways that people can be brothers." Marriage, adoption, just being so close you consider someone a brother… there were a lot of reasons to it.

"Not by blood?" Maleko repeated, clearly thinking the words over, Soul could see the gears in his head turning and wondered what was going on in that brain of his. "Mama not by blood… so brother not by blood?" he looked up at Soul, brows knitted together. "Soul my brother?"

The puppy-like face that Maleko was making, how could Soul be so cruel as to say no? "Well, I suppose that we are brothers."

"Ye!" Maleko cheered, throwing himself onto Soul and hugging him tightly. "Soul an Maleko, brothers! Aaaruuu!" he finished off with a loud howl to the sun, letting to of Souls hand to dart forward to another pedestrian on the sidewalk.

Soul was about to stop him as he saw the boy tugging at her pencil skirt, and when the woman looked away from her phone at the child, Maleko grinned pointing at Soul who was hurrying towards them. "Soul an I brothers now," he declared. "He my brother, he said so."

Thankfully, the woman seemed to find his antics amusing because she smiled and said something of a 'well that's good' which was enough to satisfy the boy as he let go and hurried to another person. Well, Soul decided, it wasn't like Maleko was doing any harm. He just wanted to tell the whole world that they were now brothers.

Well, they weren't legally brothers, but if Maleko wanted to think of Soul as his brother, the weapon wouldn't stop him.

Soul smiled as he watched Maleko dart from his current target, a businessman in a suit that really didn't fit him anymore, to dart off to a bulky looking man and a smaller, skinnier one beside him, looking as though they'd just come back from the gym down the street. It was kind of cute how excited Maleko was over this, Soul wasn't going to deny it.

He pulled his phone out as he felt it vibrate again in his pants, reading over the string of texts he'd gotten. From Maka, mainly. The rest of the group had to make a brief stop since Kid and Blackstar got into a little fight over something stupid. She didn't go into the details but Blackstar probably did something dumb and broke something and then Kid and him started arguing over it. Sounded like something they would do. Mostly Maka was just apologizing since they'd be a little late.

He chuckled, responded to her texts saying that it was fine, there was no doubt that he and Maleko would find a way to entertain themselves while they waited for the rest.

"Well, I guess it was bound to happen, just means we get to have all the snacks and appetizers we want while waiting, right, Maleko?" Soul grinned as he read his texts again. "I'm kind of hungry for cheese balls, does that sound good for you?" He asked, looking up from the phone as he walked. But then he stopped walking and a wave of fear when he realized that he couldn't see Maleko anywhere.

Where did the kid go? Shit, he had only looked away for a minute!

Maka was going to kill him if the kid up and vanished, hell, the professors might too if he didn't find Maleko fast. The boy couldn't have run off too far, right? Maybe he just ran ahead to tell some more people the news about them being brothers. That was probably it, he hoped at least.

He shoved his phone into his pocket and began to quickly hurry down the street, a brisk walk that soon became jogging as he tried to find any sign of the missing boy. It was times like these that he wished he had the same soul perceptive abilities that Maka and Kid had, that'd make finding Maleko a lot quicker and easier. But he would have to make do with what he had, and what Soul had was a pair of legs, eyes and ears.

There was no way that Maleko could have gotten far. He could have just decided to follow a stray cat or something, that was a Maleko thing, right?

The fear in Souls chest was making it hard to breathe.

But he almost stumbled over his own feet when he heard trashcans being knocked over in the alley up ahead. It caught his attention right away and Soul quickly made his way towards it, feeling hope fill up his chest that maybe that's where the boy was. "Maleko? Maleko are you in here?" Soul called out as he began making his way through the narrow space between buildings. "You aren't supposed to run off like that—Maleko!"

Right on the other end of the alley was Maleko, slung over a large man's shoulder and completely limp. The boy didn't stir or make any form of acknowledgement that he had even heard Soul, that he was even awake. But the large man had clearly noticed the weapon, he froze in what he was doing and turned away from the large van he had been opening to look at Soul.

He was large, but Soul couldn't say he knew the man, couldn't recognize him, not with the gas mask that he wore that obscured his face. Not that it mattered who this man was, all that mattered was what he was doing.

A wave of anger washed over Soul and he rushed towards the man, feeling his arm transform into it's scythe blade. "Let him go!" he yelled, ready to swing at the man, to save Maleko and get out of there.

He only got halfway across the alley before something sharp went into his leg and he stumbled. Almost instantly a wave of fatigue hit him and he almost tripped over his own feet as he tried to look to see what he had been hit with. A dart… a tranquilizer dart? Already Soul could feel… wrong.

His blade quickly shattered back into his own arm and he felt the effort of just standing, the drugs—whatever kind were in that dart—were quick acting as he felt his energy drain. But no, he wasn't going to just succumb to whatever this is, he was going to get Maleko away from that man.

"Get away from him," Soul growled, forcing himself to keep going towards the large man despite how much effort it was taking. "Get away from—mmmph!"

One hand had grabbed his other, pulling him back into a thin body as the other pressed a damp cloth against his nose and mouth. "Shhhh…. Shhhh, it's okay, its okay to go to sleep now, little weapon," a slimy voice whispered into his ear as Soul felt his consciousness start to fade. "You've a strong will to withstand our little dart here enough for me to have to do this… but this is a lot more fun so thank you," he continued and there was a sing-song tone to his voice, showing that he genuinely delighted in this.

Soul tried to focus, tried to fight, but it was hard to move, it was hard to even transform. He couldn't bring himself to form his scythe blade, couldn't do anything. It was taking all his strength to stay standing, and even that was waning fast. So Soul looked back at the large man, back at Maleko, and once again he tried to force his way towards the boy, tried to force himself out of the other mans grasp.

"Nah-no-no-no," the man pulled him tighter against himself, keeping the rag firm against Souls mouth and nose, forcing him to keep breathing in whatever it had been soaked in "We can't have you doing that—no can do."

His legs gave out under him but the other man kept him standing as he held him up and against him, and Souls vision was starting to darken too, his eyes struggling to stay open.

"Shhh…shhh," the man lowered Soul to the ground, onto his knees and laid him against his chest, and still Soul couldn't see the man behind him, but felt him stroking his hair, playing with the white strands as if Soul was his child and he was trying to comfort him. "Shhh… it's okay, it'll all be over soon, so just sleep now, okay?"

And despite everything, Soul felt himself slip into unconsciousness.

Authors Note:

As always please let me know what you thought of this chapter. And if you got any guesses on who Taka is and what he's after, I'd love to hear them!