Chapter 2: Settling In

Today was not Black*Star's day.

"Are we freaking there yet?"

"I told you to go before we left, Black*Star . . ."

"I tried but they were closed for cleaning! I swear I'm gonna have to piss out the window if I have to hold it any longer!"

And if Black*Star was going to have a bad day, he was determined that everyone else should.

It was an hour-long ride from the airport to their destination, San Alba, and since first entering the limousine – which Kid called Azrael – everyone had to deal with the ninja's pleas for a toilet. Kid himself covered his ears while a furious Liz was restrained only by her seat belt and a desire to get to the apartment complex without alarming nearby police. Patty was already distracted by the sights outside of the limo, sticking her head out like a shaggy dog in need of fresh air, smiling broadly with her tongue flapping out. Maka tried to busy herself by reading her book, which Soul, much to her annoyance, vocally disapproved of her doing while they were in a moving vehicle. Though she didn't want to admit it, Maka was feeling sick, but she didn't want Soul to be the victor in this argument. By far, the calmest in the limo was Tsubaki, who attempted, with failure, to calm her meister.

To top it all off, it was 102 degrees Fahrenheit outside the limo, and they were caught in traffic. Everyone inside, save for Patty and Tsubaki, was at their boiling point.

Black*Star leaned forward in his leather seat, holding his privates. "HEY! LIMO DRIVER! WHERE'S THE NEAREST GAS STATION?"

The limo driver, a body of black smoke with a hockey mask, merely glanced back at Black*Star before returning his attention to the road.

"HEY!" Black*Star wrestled out of his seat belt, hobbling over to the window dividing the group from the driver. "Don't ignore me, you weird ass smoke cloud!"

He was ignored again. Tsubaki pulled nervously on his shorts. "Black*Star, put your seat belt on! You're gonna get hurt!"

"We're gonna get a ticket if you're caught, too," Liz remarked, red-faced and clawing at her seat, caring less about Black*Star's safety and more about her slipping sanity. "And Smokey up there's not gonna be the one paying twenty dollars just because you can't SIT YOUR ASS DOWN!"

Black*Star knelt down to her level, squirming from leg to leg. "I got a fucking situation going on here!" He yelled at the driver again. "AND YOUR PRECIOUS LEATHER SEATS ARE GONNA STINK LIKE ASPARAGUS IF YOU DON'T PULL OVER!"

Now Liz was the one without a seat belt. "WE'RE STUCK IN FUCKING TRAFFIC, HOW CAN HE MOVE ANYWHERE CRAMMED BETWEEN A VOLKSWAGON, A CHEVY, A TOYOTA AND A MOTORBOAT?"

Tsubaki watched on, her hand to her mouth on concern. "Guys . . ."

"I'LL MOTORBOAT YOU IF YOU DON'T BACK OFF!"

"YOU EVEN PUT A HAND ON ME AND I'LL TURN YOU INSIDE-OUT FROM YOUR ASSHO—"

*MAKA-CHOP!*

Both troublemakers were silenced, moaning as large throbbing bumps protruded from their foreheads. Maka was only disappointed she had dented her copy of Jane Eyre.

Kid pulled his fingers from his ears, glaring down at the ninja. "If you had stopped to calm down a bit, I would've told you the driver's mute. Moreover, if you intentionally urinated on his seats, the souls of the damned that curse this very limousine would invade your slumber and give you vivid nightmares of the apocalypse, slowly driving you to paranoia and suicidal madness."

The limousine instantly went quiet.

" . . . Why did you have to mention that, Kiiiiid?" Liz whimpered, now close to tears.

Patty pulled her head back into the limo, a wide smile still stretched across her face. "Heheh, there's a girl flashing her tits outside!"

Black*Star and Liz quickly shot up from their places. "Where?" In the blink of an eye, the three were gathered at the window and fighting to get a peek, completely forgetting the events that took place not too long ago.

Patty burst into laughter, kicking her legs*. "Made you look!"

Each took turns at glaring at Patty. Kid pinched the bridge of his nose. "Patty, you can goof off when we're on an actual vacation. Right now we have to focus on the mission and –"

She turned to Kid and sat on her knees, now donning a mischievous grin. "Bet you'd love it if I flashed my tits, huh, Kiddo?"

A bright red flash streaked across Kid's face. "D-Don't be ridiculous, Patty, this is no place for tomfoolery!"

Patty lifted the bottom of her white spaghetti tank, showing him her toned stomach. "What if I did it now?"

"Patty!" Kid tried to pull her top back down, throwing the blonde into a giggle fit. "I refuse to let you participate in this kind of public exhibitionism!"

Patty held back his arms, a smile on her face as she sneakily wrapped her legs around him. "You'd probably think differently if it was in private."

Kid's face grew even redder, trying to disguise his embarrassment and clear arousal with a strict demeanor. "Public or private, this game you're trying to attempt is indecent and uncalled for!"

Liz sat next to Soul, and Maka's attention was finally taken away from her book. The trio watched as Kid wrestled against Patty, the blonde laughing her head off as he pulled at her shirt. Liz watched with her chin in her hand, bored, as Soul and Maka watched the fight in confusion.

"Uh . . . what's with them?"

"Huh?" Liz glanced down at Soul. "Oh, this is their new thing. Long story."

Soul and Maka exchanged a brief glance of bewilderment, then simply shrugged and lied back. Chaos continued to consume the limo. Patty continued to boldly tease an already flustered Kid while Black*Star returned to dancing around and trying to hold his urine.

"Already they're acting like it's spring break."

The image of the crazed teenagers running amok reflected off Shinigami-sama's mirror, the students unaware they were being watched. Shinigami-sama turned away from the mirror and glanced at Spirit, who was watching the whole spectacle with him. "They're just kids, Spirit. They can have a little fun."

Spirit turned to the silly death god, reluctance in his eyes. "Are you sure it was right to send them on a mission like this?"

Shinigami-sama turned away to wipe a small smudge off the mirror. "There are certain people in the world who don't know about Shibusen. Many who've never heard of meisters, weapons, or kishin."

"I know that."

"Well, don't you think they should know too?"

Inside the mirror, the show only got worse. Black*Star had started trying to climb out the window to urinate while Tsubaki tried to pull him back in. Patty had trapped Kid in a headlock while he called for mercy. Liz simply filed her nails, deaf to his cries.

"I'm not sure they can handle the mission," Spirit muttered.

"You need to have more faith in them. I'm sure you're aware that, in certain cultures, the number seven is a lucky number, right?" Shinigami-sama tapped the glass. "Now it may be pure coincidence, but as one, how many meisters and weapons make up this team?"

Spirit glanced at the mirror, then back to his meister. " . . . What are you saying, Shinigami-sama?"

"I'm saying," he continued, "that you don't give them enough credit. For as long as I can remember, this particular group has achieved what most others their age couldn't. I sent them on this mission for two reasons: one, together, they make an unstoppable force. Two, if they are going to be unstoppable, they must learn, first hand, that people won't always know who they are. They must learn to fight undercover, and not make a spectacle on themselves."

"So what do you expect them to do," Spirit challenged, "when there's no choice but to do that?"

There was a brief pause from the death god. Spirit flinched a bit, bracing himself for a shinigami-chop, but none came. The image of the rambunctious kids faded from the mirror.

"They won't always be able to hide."

"Whoa. . ."

If the golden entrance room to the building wasn't enough to wow the group, the penthouse left them wandering around their temporary home in awe, eyes wide and mouths agape.

Except for Black*Star.

"BATHROOM!" he hollered as he broke through the group, running into the apartment and searching desperately for sanctuary.

The expansive living room was enough to fit a gathering of twenty. A small cream colored rug rested in the middle of the dark chocolate hardwood floor, becoming the resting place for four small luxurious blue couches all facing each other; a small coffee table resided between them. Closer to the entrance of the apartment, a dining table fit for eight sat opposite a large kitchen. All around the living room, save for the hall leading to a beautiful white fireplace area and spiral stairs, large windows showed off a beautiful view of the city of San Alba.

The staircase led to three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Except for one room, which bore three beds instead of two, each room was identical: a large plasma screen TV, queen-sized water beds, a computer desk, a walk-in closet, and a skylight. The end of the hall led to a sliding glass door, opening to a great balcony with a barbecue pit, a bar, fold-up tanning chairs and . . .

"A POOL!" Liz cheered as she eagerly dove in, Patty splashing in behind her. The sisters squealed and laughed, hugging each other as if they inherited the penthouse for themselves.

The remaining four watched them with a smile, enjoying the sight themselves. Maka turned to Kid, her book still hugged to her chest. "Your dad wasn't kidding when he said he'd give us the best, huh, Kid?"

Kid grinned proudly at her. "Father always keeps his word. He promises what no one else can."

"How long can we stay?" Tsubaki asked. "This must be expensive."

"Like he said, however long it takes." He looked back to the pool. "We're only renting this place, but he's paying for it. We can stay as long as it takes to find the kishin, whoever that may be."

"We'll be staying for long then," Soul muttered.

The three turned to him curiously.

"Shinigami-sama's warning . . . he didn't just say that to scare us." He turned to them. "Unless you've actually been to a normal public school, you're gonna die there. If you're not careful, stories are gonna start flying about you guys. Probably even all of us. And it'll get to your heads if you don't know how to deal with that. If any of us starts to get paranoid about each other, we're gonna fail the mission."

Maka rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of his warning. "Soul, the only one trying to scare us is you. Just because you've been to public school, it doesn't mean you can tease us like that. It's just Shibusen without the same curriculum, right? How bad could it be?"

Soul's tone dropped. "Your dad wanted me to talk to you about that."

Maka's blood chilled at Soul's words. Did her father know something she didn't?

Soul nodded his head towards the exit, urging her to follow. Maka sighed, following him back inside. Only mere seconds after did Black*Star run out, jumping into the pool. "CANONBAAAALL!"

The splash was enormous, almost wetting Kid and Tsubaki. Liz and Patty squealed in surprise, playfully splashing water in Black*Star's face, to which he responded by teasingly trying to drown them. Tsubaki smiled at the sight of her partner enjoying himself so much, touching her arm gingerly. "I think I should go set up our things. He'll need to change his clothes soon."

And so Tsubaki left Kid alone by the poolside. He didn't mind being left alone; in fact, he was enjoying the sight himself.

In the water, Patty was trying to climb on Liz's shoulders, Black*Star having suggested a game of Chicken. Her hair was matted around her chubby bright red cheeks, and her crystal blue eyes shone jubilantly. Liz protested Patty climbing on her, wobbling around and claiming not to have upper body strength. Patty simply giggled and proceeded to bother her sister. Kid smiled at Patty's laugh, his own cheeks warming up. He couldn't explain it, but recently, he was starting to find her laugh enchanting, and the girl herself rather magnetic. It was a baffling feeling, one he'd never felt before, but Patty didn't protest to his new feelings. In fact, she embraced it fully, possibly even reciprocated it. Liz didn't very much appreciate it, but it made their newfound relationship more interesting, especially on Patty's part.

Patty's eyes suddenly turned on him, and her smile grew wider. Kid's smile fell as their eyes locked, but the heat to his face became more fervid. He stepped back, as if thinking of a way to escape.

"Kiddo!" she called, waving him over. "Jump in, we're gonna play Chicken!"

Kid clenched his teeth and regained his composure. He cleared his throat into his fist, returning to his serious self. "We have no time for horseplay. Father said to contact him once we settled in, and we have two weeks of clothes to unpack."

"But Kiddo," she whined, slightly tugging on Liz's hair, "we have the rest of the day to do that! Just one game, please?"

"One game is one too much," Kid insisted. "Like Father said, we have no time for meaningless distractions." He gently tugged the lapels of his suit. "But if you're going to play around like a child, I'll unpack everything myself. We'll be waiting for you when you're finished."

With that, Kid left the balcony, leaving the three to stare at him as he left.

"Damn," Black*Star muttered. "Kill-joy."

Patty pouted, a hurt expression on her face as she burrowed her nose in Liz's crown. Liz sighed and rubbed Patty's leg in sympathy. "Don't worry about it, Patty. He's just being an ass."

Black*Star turned to Liz and Patty. "What's up with Kid? He's been acting weird . . . er."

"Things have been going on between him and Patty," Liz explained. "He's not really . . . open about it yet."

"Why not?"

Liz huffed. "Probably some shinigami bullshit, but I swear, if he hurts her, I'mma scalp him in his sleep. Asymmetrically."

Black*Star smirked. "I can help with that last part."

Patty's shoulders bobbed, a small giggle bubbling out of her. Liz smiled, patting her sister's knee. "Hey. I bet they have ice cream in the fridge."

Patty grinned.

"What did Papa want you to tell me?"

Soul closed the door behind him for privacy. Maka sat on the water bed, waiting with curiosity for Soul to speak. He sat down in the bed before her, resting his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward. "Listen, Maka. I know you're a smart girl and everything, but I'm with your dad on this. We don't think you'll be able to handle tomorrow."

Maka's brows drew together. "What? You mean you want me to skip out on tomorrow?"

"I'm not saying that," Soul explained. "But he told me he didn't think you were ready to take on public school. I wasn't sure I agreed, but after what you said out there, I don't think you are going to make it."

"You never thought I could," Maka argued. "On the plane you said –"

"Then I was kidding," Soul admitted. "I thought you'd be smart enough to trust Shinigami-sama's word that normal schools aren't like Shibusen. Apparently I was wrong."

Maka scowled, turning red. "How are you so sure I won't make it?"

"You're a really emotional girl, Maka," Soul said. "Not only that, you're hot-tempered. No one at Fouster knows who you are. All they'll know is that you're cute, innocent, and smart, so you'll be an easy target for bullying."

Maka couldn't help but blush at the "cute" comment. "You're telling me I should just take it?"

"I'm telling you not to get yourself in trouble. No Maka-chopping, no fights, nothing. Because they'll fight you back. With back-up. You let your emotions get in the way and you'll blow the mission. Understand?"

Maka's scowl deepened. Her eyes fell to her knees as she bit her lip stubbornly.

"Understand?"

Maka closed her eyes in defeat. "Yeah."

"Good." Soul got up to leave, but paused as he passed by Maka. He turned back to her, a small guilt twisting in his stomach. How much pressure did he just put on her, telling her that she, above everyone else, could cause the mission to fall apart?

"Maka."

Maka looked up at him, her eyes were full with self-doubt. Cringing, Soul sighed and ruffled her hair. "We're only concerned about you, okay? We don't want you to get hurt."

Maka reached up to push his hand away. "You're concerned about me?"

"You're my meister. I'm supposed to be concerned, aren't I?" Flashing a small smile at her, Soul left the room to get their luggage.

Maka stared out the open door, stomach tingling lightly. She didn't know why either, she knew Soul was always concerned about her. But, for him to say it out loud, with that tone of sympathy. . .

Soul stuck his head back in the room, making Maka jump back. "Hey, Liz and Patty are making root beer floats. You want one?"

Maka smiled at Soul's offer. "S-Sure."

Soul smirked. "Then get off your ass and make one yourself."

He quickly ducked to avoid Maka's book.

"Good evening, Shinigami-sama."

"Ho-ho! You all spoke in perfect unison! Very good!"

Despite the unnecessary comment, the seven smiled proudly. They gat gathered in a circle around a small mirror on the coffee table, finding it easier to sit on their knees than each on the couches, leaving Shinigami-sama to talk to a ceiling instead of their faces.

"So, you all know tomorrow's a big day. I trust you've all remembered your false alibis? Good. Now, remember what I've told you. Keep it on the down-low, and don't let pesky high school rumors interfere with the mission. Before I go, I will give you this one piece of advice for you all to take to heart when you go into the school."

Shinigami-sama quickly ducked down, throwing his confused students off. Quickly, he stood back up with a giant golden clock around his neck and a tilted blue visor.

"Playas, they gonna play, and haters, they gonna hate. Ballers, they gonna ball, shot callers, they gonna call. But that ain't got nothin' to do with me and you, and that's the way it is."

The group gawked at the mirror, faces pale and jaws to the floor. That's his big advice?

Shinigami-sama flashed a V-sign before leaving. "Night, bi-zitches!"

And just like that, the mirror went blank. The roommates stared down at the mirror, an awkward silence filling the room.

". . . Your dad is weird."