Chapter Sixteen

Sorry for the long wait. I had a hard time with this one because I kept thinking I should add a transition into the next battle that is going to happen. But I thought to save it for the next chapter, so this one is ordinary and nothing happens, Which is why it is short. But trust me all of the juicy stuff will be in the next chapter. Till then, enjoy ^_^

The sun beamed down on Death City brighter than it ever had. It wore a long and wide smile as its flames burned proudly. Misao couldn't stop staring at the sky. She used her hand to block the sun's brightness from her eyes. "Wow, today is super gorgeous. Don't you think, Blood?"

"Yeah, it is." He walked a little bit in front of Misao, who was too focused on the sky. She was walking very slowly and Blood was matching her pace. "Misao, we need to hurry or we'll be late for school." A chuckle escaped his throat as he stopped and waited for Misao to catch up.

Misao took her eyes off of the sky and looked at Blood. She ran towards him and walked beside him. "Okay fine." She said. "I still can't get yesterday out of my head. We had so much fun."

"It was fun. You were like a small child running around everywhere. Then you fell asleep and I had to carry you back home."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Misao chuckled nervously. They arrived at the DWMA just in time. Students were still hanging around the school, waiting for the first bell to ring. "See, we made it on time. My staring at the sky didn't make us late at all."

Blood let out a sigh while shaking his head. "Okay, okay, you were right. Let's go find the others."

"Okay." Misao ran up the stairs and beat Blood to the top.

"Good morning, Meister Misao."

Misao looked behind her to see Stein standing with a cigarette in his hand. "Oh, good morning Professor Stein."

"Good morning, Blood." He greeted Blood as soon as he got to the last stair.

"Morning Professor Stein."

"I hope you two are prepared for the exam next week."

"We've been studying the material every night sir." Blood told him.

"Perfect, then you should have no trouble. If you get confused on something, don't hesitate to ask me."

"We will, sir. Thank you."

Blood and Misao bowed to Stein before continuing on towards the classroom. When they got to the doorway, they looked around but saw no trace of Maka and Soul. "They're not in here." Misao said, moving away from the door. "Maybe they're on their way now."

"Blood! Misao! Over here!"

The two turned as soon as they heard their names being called. To the left they saw Kid, Liz and Patty headed their way. It was Liz who had called out to them. "Morning guys." Misao greeted.

"Morning to you too." Liz said back as she peeked through the classroom door.

"Have any of you seen Maka and the others?" Blood asked. "We thought they'd be in the classroom."

"I'm sure they'll be here soon." Kid said. He was quiet for a while, staring at Misao.

"Kid, is something wrong?" Misao noticed Kid concentrating hard on her.

His face began to turn blue as sweat ran down his face. "I've been meaning to bring this up earlier, but things got in the way. But now I can address it. Misao…why do you wear that outfit?"

Misao looked down at her clothes with curiosity. "What about my outfit?" she asked. "I don't see anything wrong with it. It's easy to move in and it keeps me cool."

Kid grinned his teeth silently, letting several low grunts slip out every once in a while. Finally he spoke his mind. "Your pants…are not symmetrical!" He shouted at the top of his lungs while steam escaped the top of his head. "Why is only one part of the pants long and the others look like swimsuit bottoms!? It doesn't make sense!" He soon crawled into a corner, assumed a fetal position and began crying uncontrollably.

Misao's face was blank. "That's your problem!? Why do you care about my fashion choices?"

Liz patted her on the back to calm her. "Don't take it personally. It's one of his quirks. He still can't get over the fact that Patty and I are so different in our human forms."

"Also, if he has a symmetrical problem, how does he deal with the stri…"

Liz quickly put her hand over Misao's mouth before she could finish her question. "It is best not to bring that up if you know what's good for you. Trust me, his situation is complicated." She whispered to him.

Misao continued staring at Kid who continued to sob and Patty who began to poke him on his shoulder while laughing at his misery. 'I'll never understand the Grim Reaper's son. He is an odd one.'

"What the heck is going on over here?" Soul asked, walking up to Misao and the others.

"There you guys are." Blood said, turning around to face them. "For a minute there, we were afraid you weren't going to show."

"Sorry, it took Soul forever to wake up." Maka glared at Soul. "He was up all night reading comic books."

"Hey I just couldn't sleep, get off my back." Soul was nonchalant about the issue. "So anyway, why is Kid in a corner?"

"He made a fuss over my pants and then went insane."

"Okay. Good to know."

"Hey Misao," Maka leaned past Soul. "…after school, you and Blood wanna have a study session over our place? We do have that exam in a few days."

Misao looked up at Blood. "Is that okay with you, Blood?"

"That sounds like a great idea." He said. "To be honest, there are a few parts I'm confused about. I could really use all the help I can get."

"Then it's settled." Maka chuckled.

"Hey guys!" Black Star and Tsubaki approached them. "Now that the Great Black Star is here, the day can officially begin!"

"Good morning everyone." Tsubaki greeted.

"Morning." Maka said back to her.

"Oh, I see we missed something interesting." Tsubaki said with curiosity as she stared at Kid still huddled in the corner.

Misao and Maka looked at Kid again. "Please don't ask." Misao told her, raising a hand up. "Let's just get into class." Misao walked into class along with the others. She sat cross-legged on top of the desk while engaging in conversation with her friends. Every once in a while, she would stare out the window into the cloudless sky. 'Father…I promise to do my best.'

"Misao, is it okay if I ask you a question about where you grew up?" Maka asked her.

Blood and Misao shared a short glance before looking back at Maka. "Uh, sure, what do you want to know?"

"I've always been curious, did you have any specific rituals or customs?"

"Rituals or customs…" Misao had to think hard about it. "Not that I know of. Other than us having b harvesting season, we were like any other town."

"What about those marks under your eyes?" Tsubaki asked. "Have you always had them?"

"Oh no. I did this a year after our town was destroyed. It was meant to hide my tear stains." She placed a hand over her tattoos, getting a grim look in her eyes. "I used to cry every night over the loss of my father and all of my friends. I thought if I marked my face, no one would be able to see the past tears I shed."

"That's so sad." Tsubaki said.

"Please don't show sympathy for me." Misao said, turning her head away from them. "Over time, the marks became a symbol of my strength. With them, I wanted people to see that I could take care of myself and I was stronger than I seemed."

"Forgive me, Misao, but you can't just tell them not to sympathize with you." Blood told her, placing a hand on her back. "It's a sign that they truly care for you as your friends."

"Blood's right." Soul said. "If we acted like we didn't care, that wouldn't be cool."

"Just because someone shows you sympathy, doesn't mean they think you're weak." Tsubaki explained. "Like Blood said, it's to show that we see you as a friend. None of us think you're weak, Misao. We know you have a very strong soul."

A warm feeling spread through Misao as she looked at all of them smiling at her, including Blood. "Sorry guys. After losing everyone from my village, I've had a hard time making more friends. I'm still rusty in how to maintain friendships and what I have to do to keep it alive."

"That's easy!" Patty exclaimed. "Just smile and laugh all the time. The bigger your smile, the longer your friends will stick around! Isn't that right, sis?"

"Well said, Patty." Liz patted her sister on the back. "No matter the problems you go through Misao, all of us will be by your side. This whole school treats everyone like family."

"Family…" Misao's face began to brighten with a red tint. The feeling of loneliness she felt for years had finally began to lift from her, allowing her to stand up tall again. "You guys…are my family. Thank you so much!"

Stein entered the room with books and papers in his hands. "Alright everyone, class is in session. Take your seats and let's begin. Lots to go through." He set down his things and then began twisting his screw about six times before a loud click echoed through the room.

I'm attempting to build up to a big thing between Blood and Misao that involve their battle techniques and Blood's back story. Some of that will be revealed in the next chapter.

Please R&R!