Chapter Six

Author's Note: I'm sincerely sorry I took so long publishing this chapter. This year is ending for me and I've been studying my ass off for finals and getting homework done. Hope you enjoy this ^^;

Later that day, Blood went to Stein and got some medicine and bandages for Misao. After he had patched her up, he calmed her spirits with the sound of his flute. When Misao was younger, he'd play her a soothing lullaby that would put her right to sleep. Now, she requested it whenever she wanted to meditate and let go of her emotions. "Blood, I'm getting hungry. Can we go out and get something?" she asked.

"Actually, we'll be eating dinner with some very good friends of mine." He said, seeming somewhat suspicious. "We should get going right now before we're late." Misao followed Blood out the door with no questions asked. She trusted Blood, and went along with whatever he had planned. They finally arrived at a small apartment complex. "Here we are." He said as he knocked on the door.

"Who lives here, Blood?" She asked.

The door opened to reveal a purple-haired woman dressed in a very small black dress with large breasts. "Oh, you must be Misao and Blood! It's nice to finally meet you! And if you don't mind me saying, you're pretty sexy Blood."

The second she said that, Misao tackled Blood and began to strangle him in the middle of the street. "Who the hell is this, Blood!? Is she the 'good friend' you were referring to!? Huh? When did you meet her!? Answer me now you bastard!"

"She's not the…one I…meant." He managed to wheeze out.

"Oh really! Then how in the hell does she know your name!?" She began to squeeze his throat harder, making it more difficult for Blood to breathe, let alone get a single word out.

"I think there's been a bit of confusion." The woman intervened.

Misao turned her attention straight to her, finally letting Blood go. "As for you, I don't know how the hell you know Blood, but if I ever see you around him again, you'll be sorry you ever met me!"

"Misao, Blood, you guys made it." Misao froze the moment she saw Maka and Soul walk out of the apartment. They turned their attention from Misao to the woman. "Blaire, why didn't you invite them in?" Maka asked her.

"Well I tried, but apparently this girl got the wrong idea about me and Blood."

"Sorry about this, Misao." Maka apologized. "I told Blaire all about you two, and told her you guys were coming over for dinner."

"Why didn't you tell me this before, Blood?" Misao exclaimed in anger.

"Because you were choking the life out of me!" he yelled back.

After all the tension calmed down, Misao and Blood made themselves comfortable in the living room, where there were others. The one Misao noticed right off the bat was Black Star, who was sitting on top of the coffee table, Indian style. "Oh hello there Misao and Blood. Glad you could make it." Black Star's weapon partner, Tsubaki was the first to greet them as they took a seat.

"Nice to see you too, Tsubaki, and Black Star." Blood greeted back.

"Uhh, yeah. What's up?" Misao hesitated. She then looked over at a black-haired boy with three rows of white stripes on the left side of his head. He was sitting in between two girls who looked like they were sisters. One had long dirty blonde hair and the other had short blonde hair. "I don't think we've met you three before." Misao pointed out.

"Well, now we get to properly meet. My name is Death the Kid. I'm the son of the Grim Reaper."

"Are you serious?" she asked, looking shocked. "You're Lord Death's son?"

"That's right. And these are my weapon partners, Liz and Patty."

"Nice to meet you guys." Liz greeted.

"Hi new friends!" Patty was more energetic than a pre-schooler.

"Thanks for having us." Misao said. "When do we get to eat?"

"It'll be ready in just a minute." Maka answered, walking into the kitchen. "I'll check on it now."

The moment Misao took a seat, she began thinking about how this gathering of friends and loved ones was just like how her life was like when her father was alive. She suddenly felt a strong connection with all of them. Misao didn't say a word the entire time; she just sat back and listened to their conversation and their cheerful laughter. There were times where she laughed along with them, but did it quietly so they wouldn't notice her. 'These feelings that are going through me.' She thought to herself. 'It's been so long since I've had them. It feels…warm and comforting.'

In the middle of their conversation, Maka came out of the kitchen and announced, "Hey everyone, dinner's ready!"

"It's about time!" Black Star exclaimed, jumping up. Everyone followed along into the dining room and took at seat. Misao and Blood were the last two to sit down. Misao sat in between Blood and Soul.

"So…what are we having?" Misao asked, trying hard to fit in and be a part of the group.

"Maka makes the best pasta in Death City." Soul said, drooling from the amazing smell of pasta coming from the kitchen.

"Misao, sorry about this, but would you mind helping me serve the pasta?" Maka asked.

Misao was hesitant for a while, but eventually got up and joined Maka in the kitchen. Before she stepped into the kitchen, she looked back at Blood who winked at her and gestured her to go on in the kitchen. Once there, Misao just stood in the middle, waiting for instructions. "So…what do you want me to get?" she asked.

"Before that, Blood asked me to talk to you." Maka confessed, leaning against the counter. "He's worried about you."

"What do you mean?" she asked. "How much did he tell you about me?"

"Not much. He just said that you're going through some tough issues, and that he's afraid that you'll do something reckless because you think about them too much."

"You know, you shouldn't talk about things you know nothing about." Misao scoffed.

"I understand that but I just want to give you some friendly advice." Maka walked up to Misao and took her by the hand, smiling. "It's true I don't know or understand the things you're going through, but either way it's important for you to let people in rather than shun them and deal with problems on your own. If you ever get into trouble or feel sad about something, you'll have people beside you to back you up."

It was Maka's words that got Misao thinking that she should open herself to more friends. "It's not that I don't want to make friends, I'm afraid of them either betraying me, or getting hurt because of me. Whenever I get close to anyone on the outside, I always end up alone again."

Maka looked at Misao with apologetic eyes and hugged her. Misao jumped at first, but then could feel the warmth of her soul. "I can tell by your soul wavelength…that you're scared and lonely. You want to make friends, but don't know how to say it." They stayed like that for a long while until Misao began crying softly. "It's okay, Misao. You don't have to be afraid anymore. Everyone here wants to make you happy and be your friend. Including me."

Misao put her arms around Maka and hugged her back. "Thank you so much, Maka." She said behind the tears. After they let go of each other, Misao wiped her tears away and then helped Maka carry the plates, silverware and cups. Once everyone had everything they needed, Maka finally came in with the lasagna. "Here it is everyone. My famous three-cheese lasagna."

"It's about time! I'm starving!" Black Star exclaimed, standing up in his seat with infamous energy as Maka placed the tray of lasagna in the middle of the table.

"Hang on Black Star; we have to say grace first." Maka said, clapping her hands together. Everyone else followed Maka's example and put their hands together. They all bowed their heads and prayed, "Thank you for the food!", then dug in.

When Misao took a bite of the lasagna, she almost collapsed out of pure pleasure and got lost in the delicious taste.

"What do you think of it, Misao?" Blood asked.

"It's really good." Her smile warmed him.

When they returned back to the school, Misao got straight into the bed. "Today was so weird." Misao muffled through her pillow.

"What do you mean, Misao? Didn't you have fun?" Blood asked.

Misao sat up with the pillow squished in her arms. "That's the point, I did have fun." She answered. "It…It's been a long time since I've been around other people who actually cared about me even though they know close to nothing about me."

Blood walked over and sat beside her, laughing out of joy.

"What's so funny, Blood?" Misao asked him, looking at him confused.

After a minute of laughing, Blood finally spoke up what was on his mind. "Tonight was the first time I've ever seen you have fun. It made me happy…that's all."

Misao looked at Blood's face and knew that it was her new-found laidback attitude that made Blood was very happy. For the first time she went to sleep with a clear head and had the sweet dreams she longed for all her life. Yet in the back of her mind, she knew they were the only sweet dreams she'd have.

Before class, Misao was sitting in class reading a book with Blood when Maka and Soul walked in and sat down. "Misao, Blood, good morning."

"Morning Maka." Blood greeted.

"Hey guys. Thanks again for having us over yesterday." Misao said, closing her book.

"That's what friends are for." Soul said. "Which reminds me, we were wondering if you wanted to hang out with us this weekend? We usually get together and go to the park, where we play basketball. Sound good to you?"

"It'd be more fun if you two came with us."

"That sounds like a good idea, right Misao?" They all turned their attention to Misao.

"Count me in." Misao didn't even think about it like she would usually do.

"Great, it's set." Maka laughed. "I almost forgot I made these for you. Try one." Maka held out a small bowl of rice balls in front of Misao and Blood.

"She was up half the night making them." Soul added.

Misao stared as Blood took the bowl and tried one. "These are great!" Blood exclaimed. "Go ahead Misao, try one for yourself."

Something grew inside of Misao that made her uncomfortable in this situation. She couldn't explain her emotions, but they went out of control to the point where Misao bolted out of the classroom and passed right by Stein just as he approached the door. "Misao is everything okay?" He tried calling out to her, but she ignored him.

Misao ran into the bathroom and locked herself in, curling up in a ball on the floor. 'I can't take this!' she thought to herself as she sobbed uncontrollably. 'Why can't I trust them? Why is it hard for me to trust anyone I come in contact with? Help me…please.'

'I finally found you.' Misao heard a voice echo all around her. It was a voice she knew all too well. It was Asura. 'You disappeared from me for a while. I was…very lonely without you, Misao.' The voice chuckled.

Misao clenched her head, trying to make the voice go away. 'It's all in my head…you're not here. You don't know where I am.'

'Oh but I do. And it won't be long before I finally have you for my own.'

The more Misao tried to resist the voice, the stronger the madness inside her became. It got to the point where when she opened her eyes, she was sitting in a pool of blood and unable to move. Her breathing increased, and her body started sweating and tightening. "Leave me alone!" She let out a terrifying scream.

After she screamed, Misao heard a loud bang on the door. "Misao, are you okay? Misao! Answer me!" The sound of Blood's voice snapped Misao back to what little sense she had inside of her.

Misao got off the floor, opened the door and ran straight into Blood's arms and held him tight. "Blood, he knows! The Kishin knows where I am! He's coming for me!" Blood saw the endless tears that flowed from Misao's eyes and the traumatized state she was in. He felt her body shaken with pure terror. "He's coming for me." She sobbed. "There's nowhere for me to hide."

"Blood, why don't you and Misao go to into my office? I'll send Spirit in there to check on you." Stein said, breaking away the crowd of people.

Blood nodded as he guided Misao down the hall into the infirmary. When they got there, he put Misao in the bed and forced her to lie down. "Misao, just relax. Everything's going to be okay."

Again I am so sorry. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one will be up in a few weeks. Also, if you are reading my 'Chaos Nazo' story, the next addition to that will be up after next week or at the end. I apologize again and hope you R&R ^^