Chapter Three – It happened when you were two years old.

"You wanted to see me father?"

After careful consideration, Lord Death decided that it was about time he had a good long talk with his son about one of his most painful memories. However, he was nervous…how would his son react to this devastating news? Heck, who's to say he'd even believe any of this? After all, he was so young at the time.

"Tell me son…" began Lord Death "Do you remember anything of…your mother?"

Kid was really puzzled. He'd always wondered about his mother but never really gave her much thought. The fact that his father would ask all of a sudden made him feel slightly uneasy…

"You know I can't remember much." Sighed Kid "She died when I was a baby right?"

Lord Death said nothing, he simply reached into his cloak and pulled out a collection of 7 polaroid photos. Holding them in his huge reaper hands, a huge wave of sadness flushed over him as he stared at the images of the tiny little boy.

"I need to show you something…" he sighed as he held out his hand towards his son "come over here…"

Raising his eyebrow in confusion, Kid made his way towards his father and Death handed him the photos. Kid's eyes widened as what he saw was so shocking, he couldn't find the words to say. There, on the photos, was the image of a small boy with black hair and three un-symmetrical lines on his head…with a huge black eye, covered in bruises. He felt sick to his stomach as he realized just who this child was.

"Dad…that's…is that?" he stuttered as he flicked through the rest of the photos.

One by one the polaroids got steadily worse. In one the child's lip was swollen and bloody, in another, the child at a cast on his wrist, he kept on looking until he eventually came to a photo of the tiny boy lying unconscious in a hospital bed in nothing but a pair of pyjama bottoms with his ribs covered in bruises…

"That one was taken after the night it happened…" Lord Death sighed sadly.

"The night after what happened?" Kid asked, unsure of whether he actually wanted to know the answer.

"The night…after your mother almost killed you…"

"What?" gasped Kid as he dropped to his knees "You're lying!"

"I wouldn't lie to you Kid." Said Death as he placed his massive hand on his son's shoulder "When you were born for some reason your mother never bonded with you and as you grew so did her resentment."

"No…" whimpered Kid as tears began to fill his eyes

Lord Death wrapped his arm around Kid's shoulders.

"Stein had been telling me for months that he'd been seeing unexplained bruises on your body but I just brushed it off, thinking that you were just a clumsy child. It never occurred to me that she'd actually been harming you…"

"She…used to hit me?"

Death said nothing; he simply nodded sadly as he pulled his son close for a hug.

"There's more…that night…I'd left you alone with her and…she'd kicked you down the stairs…"

Kid felt physically sick. He'd never been able to remember his mother and he always dwelled on the belief that she was a kind woman, and here he was hearing of how she'd almost killed him? It seemed so unfair.

"Oh my god…" he sobbed as he gripped his hair in his hands

"You were 2-years-old Kid…you couldn't remember a thing because you hit your head really hard, but I guess the fall you had yesterday triggered the memory…"

"Where is she now?" asked Kid, shaking with anger.

Lord Death new exactly where she was, after all, he was the one who sent her there after the incident. He knew Kid would want to confront her so he decided to play it safe and not tell him.

He wrapped both his arms around his son and held him close to his chest. Kid began to cry into his father's embrace, staining his cloak with his tears.

"Never you mind Kid…" Death sighed as he stroked his son's hair "She doesn't deserve you as a son…you're too special…I know it's hard but try to forget her and the horrible things she did."

"How can I?" sobbed Kid "I'm an un-wanted child! I'm garbage!"

Lord Death used one of his plus-sized fingers to lift Kid's chin upwards so that he was looking him dead in the eye.

"You know that's not true!" he said firmly "I'd put my life on the line to protect you!"

Without warning, Kid pulled away from his father and stood up. He turned his back to the Shinigami and with tears still streaming down his face, he let his emotions go.

"If that's true…why did you leave me alone with her?" he snapped "If you knew about the bruises it should've been obvious! She broke my wrist for god's sake and you think that's a sign of a clumsy child?"

Lord Death remained silent but Kid wasn't finished yet.

"Don't try to make yourself sound innocent…If it took a bloodied lip, a broken wrist and a few bruised ribs to see that your own child was being abused…then maybe you aren't fit to be a parent at all…"

And on that note, Kid left the room in tears, leaving the speechless Shinigami alone in the room with a big ache in his heart…

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Sorry I didn't get this chapter up sooner, My friend came down for a visit :)

Poor Kid! :( I feel bad for writing a story like this :( But I guess it's a subject that needs to be brought to attention, after all, somewhere in the world there is always a child being abused :(

Thank you so much for reading this far guys please keep it up :) Next chapter will be up soon I promise!