TITLE: 46-52-424
SUMMARY: Kid, Maka, Black Star and their weapons defeated the Keishin only to find themselves facing a new threat. Death is missing, Eibon now runs the Academy, and as the days go on, their teacher's curriculum's get more and more challenging. Seeming to rest on the border of right and horrific. Though the more they question the new head of their Academy, the worse their punishments become.
STORY PAIRINGS: SoulXMaka, BlackStar X Tsubaki

PLEASE NOTE: This story is rated M. According to the FF site, that means it has to be appropriate for ages 16+ WITHOUT explicit content, which includes adult language, themes, and suggestions. This story meets those requirements.


"Damn him..." Kid said frowning looking into the mirror in his bedroom back at his families manor. He held a razor blade in one hand and was looking at his bare shoulder in the other. He had removed his shirt so as to be sure not to make a mistake.

"Whoa Kid!" Liz snapped as she walked by his open bedroom door.

"Please do not shout," Kid said frowning. "You might make me jump and I'd hate to mess this up."

"Mess what up! Cutting open your arm!?"

"When Eibon put his hand on my shoulder, those sharp things he's using for fingers cut into me. I can't have cuts on one arm without cuts on the other. I must make them symmetrical."

"Why not just wait for the one's you have to heal..."

"Nonsense, that could take awhile. I need to be symmetrical now..."

"Alright just stop," she snapped marching over and grabbing the blade from him. "I get your OCD bullshit. I really do. But cutting yourself is where I draw the line! It's over kid. You're getting over this today! This ridiculous fear slash desire of yours is stupid and irrational!"

"Liz," Kid said calmly. "You're afraid of ghosts right?"

"Yeah so what?"

"Why are you afraid of ghosts?" he asked.

"Who wouldn't be! They're creepy and spooky and they try to eat you."

"All the monsters we fight are creepy and spooky and many of them try to eat you, but you're not as scared of them. Wouldn't some say your fears are stupid and irrational?"

"Uh... I guess, but my fear is normal."

"And just what makes your fear normal and mine absurd?"

"Well..." Liz frowned trying to think of a good way to put it. "Fear is a response to something that could harm you. It's a way for your brain to protect you by triggering a flight response. Mine is normal because ghosts CAN hurt you. Asymmetry can't."

"Regardless, I find your fear of ghosts rather silly, yet I have never once told you that your fears are stupid and irrational? Why? Because as you said, fear is a method for beings to protect themselves, it makes you feel safer to be afraid. So I let you be afraid, with the knowledge that I would never force you to be around something you were afraid of..."

"You made me get on that ghost ship," she answered frowning.

"That was different, that was a job," Kid said holding out his hand waiting for the blade to be returned to it. "I didn't tell you to get on that ship. What I did do was stand by you, reassuring you that I and your sister were near so that even if you were scared you would have the courage to face what was coming. Besides, I knew full well that I could protect you two from anything on that ship. Remember the abandoned city. I didn't take you in there because I didn't know what we were facing, so your safety was not assured, thus I didn't bring you. I would never let anything happen to either of you. So their is no need to be scared of ghosts or any other such creature so long as I am with you..."

She frowned.

"Do you remember when we were in the pyramid you and Patty assured I got through the parts both with symmetry and without. You two helped me to complete our mission even when I was sickened by the asymmetrical sights. We get each other through difficult jobs. That is why the three of us make such a good team. But outside of our jobs it's not necessary to make you confront ghosts or for me to get by asymmetrical sights. I would not do that to you, so I would like you to extend the same courtesy to me..."

Liz frowned handing the blade back to him. "You know, if I recall you called me an idiot on that little ghost ship adventure..."

"Well it's not my fault you fell through a hole in the floor, you have to stay with the group Liz. I can only do so much when you stray away," Kid pointed out. "You could help by holding a mirror on my other shoulder so I better know what angle these need to be at..."

"Ugh, fine..." she said grabbing a hand mirror from his dresser drawer.

She watched as kid eyed it trying to determine exactly where to cut his skin.

"You compared my fear of ghost to your symmetry thing..."

"Yes so?"

"Well, I never really thought of your symmetry thing as a fear but more of a... well... a disorder or a compulsion... So are you actually afraid of things being unsymmetrical or does it just make you really anxious?"

"Well, I'm a bit confused on that myself," he explained as he meticulously made the first cut on his arm. "I've never been afraid of anything else so I'm not entirely sure if it's a phobia or not. But I like to think of it this way. It's a natural human response. Symmetry is beautiful, a lack of alignment is ugly. All humans believe this at their core. Look at anyone who has ever been deemed beautiful. Their facial features are always more symmetrical than the average persons. People deemed ugly are so because their features are so asymmetrical that it is not longer pleasing to the eye. I like to think of my understanding of this idea as being heightened and stronger than most. However when the balance is off I guess I would call it terrifying."

"Have you always been like this? I mean... I'm afraid of ghost because of the fact that they're freakin' ghosts... So, why are you afraid of a lack of symmetry?"

"I can't remember a time when I wasn't, I do know that I've become better with it than I used to be because of you and Patty."

"Really?" she asked smiling. The idea that she was helping Kid in anyway made her happy.

"Yes of course, it doesn't bother me quite as bad as it does when I'm alone," he said.

"I'm glad," Liz said a genuine smile on her face. "But I guess I was kind of hoping their had been an event that triggered it. Something that maybe we could use to find a way to get you over it."

"Well," Kid said looking back into the mirror she was holding after he finished the second cut. "I don't remember it, but my Father said their had once been a time when I didn't care about symmetry. Though when I was quite young my Father had brought me to the edge of Death City to play somewhere. Well, I had wandered too far out for him to protect me, and it was there I ran into a Keishin..."

He started the final cut. "I only just managed to make it back within' the City limits, where my Father could protect me. The Keishin that confronted me, it was all about destroying balance and creating asymmetry. Father once told me that it created a hell inside my head. It had altered the reality that I knew to be true and created a new truth or golden rule (for lack of a better term). When the world didn't follow what I thought it should it terrified me. I have sought out balance ever since. Unfortunately, I really don't remember meeting the Keishin or much before it. I woke up in the hospital days after the event with this new understanding of how the world was supposed to be. It was implanted in my head. I feel a sense of dread when things aren't symmetrical, as though something bad will occur if I can't put it right, maybe I fear that Keishin returning if I can't fix it. I don't know..."

"Oh..." Liz frowned. "Gosh I didn't realize that..."

"It's alright," Kid said grabbing a cloth he cleaned off the blade. "Well... I guess we should get to work on that magic tool huh..."

"I'll go get Patty."

With that she hurried from the room and Kid cleaned the blood trickling from his shoulder with the cloth before he put on his shirt once again.


Soul's magic tool was a wrist band, which in weapon form became a band around his handle which Maka could use as a gripper. Liz and Patty had matching rings, when transformed they formed a sight for Kid to look through in order to improve his aim. Not that his aim really needed work, but it was the best he could think of. Tsubaki's Pommel was rather cute necklace that she could wear in in her human form.

Stein told them and the other students in the class to turn in their items for he would need to inspect them that night. So all their items were placed in a box before they left.

"Alright!" Black Star cheered as he and the others walked down the hall on their way home. "Just imagine how much stronger my Tsubaki is going to get! You're going to be the most powerful Death Scythe ever!"

She smiled at him.

"Do you think our powers will just increase, or do you think we'll get new techniques?" Soul asked imagining some really cool ability like shooting fire from his blade.

"Maybe both!" Patty cheered.

Kid and Maka were walking a few paces behind everyone else.

"You're uneasy about this too aren't you?" Maka asked softly so the others couldn't here.

"My Father wants us to use this..." Kid said frowning. "I really don't think he would force us to use techniques that could potentially be fatal if their he didn't see an absolute need for it, so I'm choosing to trust him."

"Man, what could be so serious I wonder?" Maka sighed.

That's right, she didn't know. That the Keishin might still be alive and that that was the reason his Father had left...

He clenched his fists in his pocket. If he told them, he knew they (like him) would want to hurry and help his Father. But his Father wanted them to learn to use these magic tools. Why couldn't his Father just tell him what was going on? Why these tools were so necessary... Perhaps the pieces of the Keishin were somehow going to be stronger when they reformed. If they reformed. But... how could that be? He paused. Maybe, one or more of the pieces were going to have a magic tool assisting it's strength, and in order to combat it they were going to need power boosts from a magic tool as well.

But that still didn't make sense, because his Father had more than enough scythes who could wield magic tools. Why ask students? Did his Father have that much faith in the other students at this academy after seeing them fight? Kid himself certainly had more faith in their abilities after their last battle together, but... were he in his Father's shoes right now, he would have asked one of his fully trained scythes to handle such a burden. Or was their perhaps a reason behind the tools needing to be handled by children. Perhaps the weapons were meant to grow into the tools themselves and...

"KID!" Liz called and he looked up. He had stopped walking in the middle of the hallway and the others were a ways ahead. "I called your name three times. What are you daydreaming about?"

"Sorry," Kid said hurrying forward so he could catch up. It was useless, without the full picture...

He just couldn't hope to understand what his Father and Eibon had planned.


"HA! You didn't even scratch me! Your fist wasn't enough after all! You fool! There is no way a weak talentless little human like you could beat me. You didn't stand a chance!"

And suddenly his vision cracked.

"Wh… What is this? You just punched me! Your fist isn't a weapon. It's nothing special!"

"Exactly," Maka answered looking determined. "Bravery is not special. But that means. Everybody has it."

"Everybody huh? Then it's just like madness…"

The Kishin erupted into light which expanded outward from the spot where he stood. Maka had to shield her eyes it was so bright…

Above looking down from the hole in Lord Death's room, the others stood waiting...

"The barrier's gone," Stien said staring down as a large orb of light seemed to be bursting from the barrier.

"They did it!" Sid gasped.

"FOOL!" shouted Excaliber. "Look closer…"

When the light was gone, they could see only the stone ground. No Keishin was in sight, but... neither were the children.

"Oh my…" Death sighed staring down.

"Maka…" Spirt sighed. "MAKA!"

He jumped falling down to the surface where the barrier had been. He landed on the stone floor. Rushing around he searched everywhere for one sign. Anything that might tell him his little girl was alive. But their was nothing…

"Maka isn't here…" Crona and Stein had followed Spirit down and were helping him search.

"There isn't a single sign of any of the students who were fighting down here…" Stein said frowning. He was hoping to maybe find one of the weapons still in their inanimate forms laying around somewhere.

"Oh no… they died. I don't think I can handle that…" Crona said tearfully.

"Their would be remains if they were dead," Stein stated simply. "But… who knows what happened…"

"Maka…" Spirit gasped. Trying to hold back his tears.

"Any sign of the students?" Death asked calling down to them.

Stein looked up at him and simply shook his head…

"Oh dear..." Death sighed...

"What are we supposed to do Lord Death?" Sid asked.

"I don't know..." Death admitted solemnly.


Hope you all like this so far! :D