"Hey, what's your name again?"

Death the Kid had not had a chance to relay to the others just how scandalized he was at the moment, but that thought would have to wait. From what he heard, there was a quick faculty meeting in the Death Room. He, however, was stuck with all the other students who were instructed to return to their respective classrooms after the commotion that was the arrival of Izumi.

"I am Izumi."

Kid was a few seats away from Liz and Patty, who had begun interviewing the newcomer. He did not instruct them to do so, but at least they would extract from her some basic information which he could work with. He was hoping that by the end of the day he would be able to clarify a few things with his father.

"Izumi…?"

There was an awkward pause wherein the Thompson sisters waited for a surname, but no answer came from their interviewee. Kid gritted his teeth and determinedly stared at the chalkboard. That girl called his father "Father." What in the world was that about?

"Oh. My name is Liz."

"I'm Patty! Let's be friends, okay!"

Kid's head snapped in their direction, and was a bit startled to see a smiling Maka blocking his view. The rest of the group had gathered around him, too. With an indisposed sigh, he turned back to the chalkboard as if it were the most interesting thing in the universe.

"Why are they even making friends with her?" he said after a few moments, unable to contain his annoyance anymore.

"What's wrong with that? She's not an enemy," said Maka. Kid was not going to be convinced by such crude logic.

"You're not jealous of her, are you, Kid?" came Soul's idle voice from the seat above Kid.

"And why would I be jealous? There is no reason for that."

"Well, all the while, we all thought you were an only child. Now, it turns out you aren't~"

"Maka!" Kid exclaimed, offended with how plainly the scythe meister had versed his predicament. It surely wasn't as simple as that. "Besides, I am not convinced that she is my sister."

"What do you mean?" Tsubaki now piped up to his other side.

"To begin with, we are of the same age. We are not twins – "

"Maybe she's from a different mother – ?"

"Preposterous! My honorable father would never commit adul – "

"Yeah, yeah, we wouldn't want to hear about something like that anyway – "

"Besides, does she look like me? No. I do admire the symmetry governing most of her body but her hair – "

"But your hair, too, isn't symmetrical – "

At that, Kid threw himself to the floor and wailed, as everyone turned exasperated stares at Black*Star who made the comment about the young shinigami's hair.

"Stein-kun~"

The faculty meeting was a mere announcement regarding the new student who just arrived, and upon its end, Stein was already on his way out with the other teachers when Shinigami-sama called for him to remain.

"I am sure you are aware of the risks we are taking, recalling Izumi-chan from exile~"

Stein made a small smile before replying, "That is your decision, Shinigami-sama. I do not have the power or right to say otherwise – "

"Let me get to the point," Shinigami-sama interrupted in a rather stern tone. "And the point is that you are to stay away from her. Is that clear?"

Now, Stein was positively smiling, and even Death himself found it quite alarming. Even back then, Franken Stein had always been a fairly difficult student to handle. He was especially tricky to manage when he found an object of curiosity.

"How am I supposed to do that? You placed her in my class – "

One of the risks Death had taken when he decided to recall Izumi was just this. Stein. And his dangerous mind.

"You know very well of what kind of contact to avoid, Stein-kun~"

"She is just a child," said Stein, raising his hands in surrender, the sinister smile never leaving his lips. "I don't get this anymore than she or your own son would."

"It is merely a matter of proper timing and sufficient explanation in Kid's case. Kid's troubles – or impending troubles – with Izumi are negligible compared to your – "

"You are risking Kid's life – !"

"Stop pretending to be concerned for Kid, Stein-kun~" Shinigami-sama interrupted once more, this time in his gentle but final tone. "You will not earn guardianship over Izumi-chan~"

Stein's face had now gone taut, his hands at his sides.

"Please do not attempt to hurt or charm Izumi-chan to your favor. It will be useless. Izumi-chan is not Shino Izumi anymore."

With that, the professor calmly turned around to head out. Before entering the hallway that led out of the Death Room, however, he stopped in his tracks and, without facing Shinigami-sama, spoke,

"If you truly believe that her soul has been reduced to human, why, Shinigami-sama, did you decide to recall her from exile and keep her here, where you can keep an eye on her at all times?"

Kid thought he would be granted some peace of mind at the end of this sickening day, but before the sun was down, his father had generously assigned him on a mission. With the new girl.

After school, he was called to the Death Room and willingly obliged, thinking that he would finally get some questions answered. He was, then, told – by Maka's Death Scythe father, no less – that he was not allowed to take Liz and Patty with him. Fair enough, he thought. If Izumi's case was undisclosed, Kid did not need to share it with others.

Now, after finding himself in the Death Room with his father and Izumi herself and being instructed to go weaponless, Kid was quite sure his father sent him on this mission just to force him to work with Izumi. Kid managed to get just one question out before being ushered out by his father:

"Why did she call you 'Father' earlier?" Kid yelled out of the blue, at which Shinigami paused and looked at him like he was dumb.

"Because she is my daughter~?"

This mission was perhaps an attempt to draw them close like – Kid thought, sickened – brother and sister. An attempt as futile as making Liz and Patty symmetrical, Kid grudgingly thought, grinding his teeth together.

"Kid-kun," a voice above him suddenly said.

Kid had not heard a word from Izumi all throughout their journey to these unchartered forests they were currently in. They decided to station themselves atop a towering tree among its many branches. It was merely a surveillance mission, so that there was no need to get hazardously close to the investigation subject's base.

"I am aware that you do not like me, and it does not take a genius to understand why."

The young shinigami found it difficult to take Izumi's words seriously. To begin with, this was their first conversation. How on earth could she tell that –

"I will take my chance, though, and ask you to open up to me, because I like you, and I would like to get to know you better."

Forget about it being their first conversation. Izumi liked him? Kid struggled to keep himself from laughing. This girl was crazy, possibly.

"You do know that I don't believe we are siblings, right?" Kid asked after climbing a few branches over to the same level as where Izumi was. Izumi nodded innocently, a smile almost hinting at her rather pale face.

"The improbability is indeed overwhelming," she replied, as if it wasn't her they were talking about.

Kid only rolled his eyes in response, and set his gaze at the treetops that could be seen from where he was perched. No visible movement anywhere so far.

"However, I have been in exile for as long as I can remember, and the only truths I know are those given to me by Shinigami-sama. That is why, if he tells me that he is my father, I can only believe him."

For as long as she can remember? Kid thought, making mental notes. Was she exiled as a child, perhaps?

"But what if… what if you find out that you aren't his daughter?" Kid now challenged. "What would you think?"

"Kid-kun, you truly are an analytical person, ne?"

"Eh?" Kid thought what he asked was the natural response, the normal question to supply.

"Regarding such topic, most people would ask how one would feel, but instead you asked what my thoughts would be."

Kid was torn between being suspicious and feeling shy. Izumi was seeing right through him without using any apparent power. It was unnerving and yet comforting at the same time. All the while, the girl stared back at him.

"Izumi," Death the Kid began.

He still was not sure why he was so skeptical about this girl's identity, or at least what he knew so far, which was not a lot. Whenever he sensed something off, he was rarely wrong about it. But seeing as he was stuck up here, on a tree, for some hours to spy upon an enemy which was silent as the dead, perhaps he could entertain himself with a fable or two, whatever story this girl had to tell. Kid can always check his facts later when he got home.

There was a hushed gust of wind as Kid decided to say what was on his mind:

"Why were you exiled?"

To be continued…

A/N: Reviews would be nice~ :3