Mystery

"What's up with you?" with a tap on the shoulder, Soul was warped from his daydreaming world and back into reality. Slowly looking up with one eye open, he saw Maka. She stood with a hand on her hip and a book in the other, but her expression showed some concern rather than annoyance. "You've been acting weird… Well, weirder ever since you got back from lunch period." She raised an eyebrow and continued to examine Soul.

"I'm fine." Soul finally sighed, scratching his side. He appreciated her concern, and honestly hated to make her worry, but he couldn't help it. This was just too eerie. Then again, he HAS experienced weirder things. However, he had never seen anything like this before…

Of course, he was referring to his recent pop quiz that he had failed. He didn't understand anything that was in it and didn't bother to study. Damn, maybe I should start to study for these things… he thought, looking at the sheet of paper on the desk in failure. He probably should had taken Maka's advice and studied at lunch, but he didn't. Instead he had walked around the school and met… That girl. Again. He couldn't wrap his head around the situation at all. What was she? Soul peered up to Maka, who was still looking at him with concern. Maybe she'd know, he then remembered that Maka knew a lot more about mythical creatures than he ever would. Maybe he should ask her?

"Hey."

"… What?" Maka tilted her head in tune with her question.

"… Nevermind." Stupid… he shook his head and gave a sigh; he would just have to go to the library then.

"Ready to go now?" Maka gave a smirk as Soul got up from his seat. As he caught her eye, Soul gently shook his head and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Actually, go on ahead." He shrugged, eyes closed. "I have something to do." Maka wanted to ask, but decided against it and sighed in defeat.

"Fine, have fun." She rolled her eyes and retreated from the classroom. After giving the failed test another look, Soul crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it to the far away trash can. Damn, I missed.

No matter how many times he had been to this library, he always got lost. They were too many books for his liking, and far too many categories. Damn, I can't find anything in here! He grimaced, stomping around in hopes to get someone's attention. After wandering around in circles, his loud stomping only granted him a loud 'SHUSH' from the librarian, who then trotted off to do his work again. Soul was actually surprised to not see anyone in the library today… Well, it was never packed to begin with, but there was usually at least a few people populating the lonely place.

"Damn, I knew it…" someone whispered, far off. Soul's eyes perked up as he heard the rather familiar voice, and began to look around the various shelves. Eventually coming to a clearing filled with a cluttered pile of books, Soul heard the noises of a book's pages being violently flipped through. "Damnit!" the voice whispered again, and then a loud 'THUMP' echoed in the library. Soul made his way around the mass of literature, seeing none other than Death the Kid sitting on another small pile, sulking.

"Kid?" Soul almost smiled. He was just glad to see he wasn't the only one who was in the library… irritated. "What are you doing here?" after an odd look, he decided to rephrase his question. "I mean, what are you getting so worked up over?" there, that sounded better.

"Ah, well… I just found what I was looking for, is all." He shrugged.

"Shouldn't that be a good thing?" Soul dumbly asked, his hands coming out of his pockets finally.

"… In normal cases, I suppose." Kid exhaled. "But not in this case, no." he snapped the book he had in his hands shut, and got up from the pile he was sitting on. Soul stared at Kid, not with a particular look of care, but rather a look of pure perplexion. What got his symmetrical panties tied in a knot?

"What were you looking for?" Soul finally blurted out after a few moments of silence. He had a funny feeling that he had been looking for the exact same thing that Soul had…

"… A demon." Kid curtly replied, not taking his eyes off Soul. "A demon went to go see my father, today." Soul wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Odder things have met with the Death God, but since Kid was so worked up over it, he guessed it was a bad thing.

"Wait, demon?" Soul echoed, brushing a hand through his hand. "You mean like… Ashura?" he almost whispered. He hated saying that name.

"Not quite." Kid quickly responded again. "This type of demon has been around as long as the earth has existed. The demon race might actually be older than humans and my father. Demons don't usually co-operate with each other, which is another reason why it's so eccentric that my father was meeting with one." Soul couldn't say anything; he had no words. If it was a demon, then why did Shinigami want to meet with it? Suddenly, Soul slapped himself in the forehead. He couldn't believe it! Why didn't he realize it before?

"This demon…" he began, very slowly. "Is it's hair long and blonde? Does it have red eyes with slits?" he suddenly asked, looking at Kid, hoping he had an answer. Kid said nothing, but stared at Soul, a bit surprised.

"… You saw her?" he retorted, his face turning into an expression of disgust. "Disgusting demon…" he mumbled to himself, straightening out his tie. "In any case, I wouldn't get close to her again." He calmly added. At this point, Soul was begging to ask if demons could regenerate,… Or rather, not die, but Kid stormed out of the library before he could even open his mouth to ask. Why was he acting like this? Soul guessed he was a 'kid', after all.

It was Soul's turn to shop for groceries, a chore he always loathed. He never knew what to buy, even with the list. Maka added such specific things he had never heard of. What was the difference between 'Iceberg' lettuce and 'Romein' lettuce? Lettuce was lettuce, after all. Shouldn't they just be the same? He gave a sigh and looked over the list again. That was the only thing he was missing… Romein lettuce. He always disliked asking for help, since it made him feel stupid, so he usually didn't. So, he kept looking around, hoping to find the damned lettuce.

"… Are YOU lost this time?" asked a familiar voice. Soul turned around and to his surprise, it was the demon from earlier. She gently smiled at him, the same smile from earlier, letting out a few giggles. She peered over his shoulder and looked back at him. "You like eggplant?" she asked again. Soul quickly looked over his shoulder to see the freaky purple things. He violently shook his head. This girl made him nervous still. It was probably because he saw her head decapitated. It was an image that would stay with him forever. Though, there was something else about her that he found… Unsettling. "You're carrying an awful lot of groceries…" she commented, pointing to Soul's already full basket and other foods underneath his arm. "Here, why don't I help you? You helped me today again, after all." She once again flashed her usual smile.

"… Okay." Damn. For some reason, he couldn't being himself to say no. So, after buying and putting the 'goodies' into bags, Soul quietly began to walk home with the girl trotting along beside him. Just like in the hallway, this trip was also quiet. Soul then realized he must seem like an uncool loser, so he decided to do something that he forgot to do from the start. "Oh, I'm Soul, by the way." He stated, looking at the various buildings they passed. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier, I just… Forgot." That was the truth, he DID forget.

"Ah, that's okay, I forgot too!" the girl giggled. "I'm Kok-Lir." She smiled and Soul turned to face her for once. That was an odd name, but then again, so was 'Soul'. "Just call me 'Lir'." She added, giving another smile.